Don't Let Me Break You
by SoahOrange
Summary: Hades saves Aislinn from death, but in return she has to be his slave. But right from the start, something inside of him is changing. There's a new theory of Hades' anger. T for swearing  M perhaps later
1. Chapter 1

**Hi Guys! :) I'd been thinking a lot about Greek Mythology and decided I was going to try and give it a shot at writing about one of my absolute favorite Greek Gods, Hades. I'm still working on it, I'm only posting the first chapter for right now, because I want to see if people are interested in me continuing in it, and that way I can re-edit chapters a little more before I post them. PLEASE, I"M BEGGING YOU, Review this chapter and tell me what you think! PLEASE~! 3**

**Chapter 1:**

I yawned tiredly and reached my hand across my bed to smack the alarm that had been beeping non-stop. The sun was flittering in between the cracks of the blinds, glittering like gold-spun yarn on the floor, a promising start to a nice day. I pulled the covers back, swung my legs over, and reached my arms as far up as I could, stretching with all I had, then noticed a paper sitting on my nightstand.

It was a permission slip, signed and ready, to go on the field trip to the museum later that morning, a trip I was highly looking forward to. I got up and began going through the daily routine, brushing my medium, curly, auburn hair, teeth, grabbing all my stuff together, changing into light blue t-shirt and dark jeans, before heading downstairs to find my brother eating at the table.

"You're up early," I commented as I reached for the fridge and pulled out some orange juice, filling the glass on the counter that had been left out.

"I've got some things to do today, figured I'd get a head start and be home early," he said picking up his bowl of finished cereal and carrying it to the sink.

My brother's name is Sethos, but everyone calls him Seth instead. He's older than me, about seven years older to be exact, and takes care of me whenever my parents go on long-term business trips. He stands around six feet and has shaggy black hair, I always thought it would get in his face, but he never seems bothered by it, and , like everyone else in our family, has white eyes. He's a competitive swimmer, ranking high up in the professional leagues and has a lot going for him this next year. It's the off season, so coming and "baby-sitting" me, as one would put it, isn't too much of a problem for him.

"Like what? Looking for a real job?" I laughed and pulled a poppy seed muffin out of its wrapper and bit into it.

He smiled at me and rolled his eyes.

"I have a job, and I make more money than you will in a year, you remember that when you turned down swimming," he said with a chuckle, rinsing his plate off.

"I'm perfectly content to stay in the uncompetitive side of things, thanks. Besides, I get second-hand glory from having you as my brother, and I have no problem in basking in that!" I said and pulled my jacket on whilst balancing a huge muffin in my mouth.

He smiled and flicked his hand towards me, his way of saying I'd better be off to school soon.

I hop down our stone path towards the street and began walking the five minute walk to school. My name is Aislinn, I'm seventeen years old, a senior at Maryanna Kruse Academy for girls, and I live in one of the most secluded spots in Vermont that's so small, it's not on any map. I'm not particularly close with anyone in my school, so I don't spend a lot of time with friends. Despite that it's an all-girls school, I've had my share of guys I've dated, none of them ever getting anything, or getting far for that matter. I relish a good challenge, but would rather be living an adventure if given the chance. But for now, I have an ordinary life, with ordinary struggles. Little did I know, my life was going to change very soon.

My parents are extremely career oriented business people, working mainly in Interior Design, traveling around the world all the time. They've always been good at it, our house is the type you read about in those Better Homes and Gardens magazine (we've had multiple photo shoots done in it as well), and are hired to service famous people everywhere. It's pretty rare I ever see them, but I've spent most of my life with Seth, so he really feels like my only family.

Last I knew of, they were designing a chateau for the prince of Spain, and wouldn't be back for some time, months probably.

I smiled cheerfully as different neighbors said good morning and waved at me. Small town, but it was a nice one, lots of old people lived their retirement years here so it was great to grow up in. One such neighbor, Mr. Anthony dipped his hat to me as I rounded the final corner to school.

He was a small stout man with balding hair, and a soft, friendly, white mustache above his lip. He owned a small house that was always decorated beautifully with flowers of all colors throughout all the seasons, even in winter he was the only man I ever knew that could still keep his flowers blooming. A mysterious, and impressive, feat he was always kind to everyone and would never hurt a fly.

"Good morning Mr. Anthony," I called and smiled brightly, the sun warming my back as I stood.

"Good morning Aislinn! Off to the museum today aren't you?" he asked, always informed on school events as if he were a student.

"Yes, we've been studying Greek Mythology for some time now and our teacher thought it would be wonderful to go and see some of the artifacts we'd been studying for ourselves," I adjusted the bag on my shoulder that was beginning to slip and began walking once again, not wanting to be late.

"Ah! Greek mythology! One of my most favorite subjects!" he smiled with a twinkle in his eye, as though he were keeping the greatest secret in the world, and only he knew it.

"You must come and see me when you get back, I want to hear all about it," he said and turned to resume watering the bluish purple flowers in front of him.

I nodded before he turned and continued, a bit faster to the gate, and went inside the massive brick building, ivy crawling up half of it. I walked past all the chattering groups of girls, who were giggling and standing along the hallways, and made it to my locker to stow away all the books I'd been carrying in my bag about Greek Mythology.

I'd loved the subject long before we'd started studying it, and was even more addicted to it now that we had. Each god or goddess and how they were related, how they acted, what their lives were like. I didn't particularly dislike any of the Gods, except perhaps Ares and how anger filled he could be all the time. However, I did favor a particular God more than the others, and despite everyone else's opinion, liked Hades, God of the Underworld most of all.

The first bell rang annoying in the echoing hallways, and I began making my way through the crowds to homeroom, where we'd be leaving shortly anyway to go to the museum. I sat down in an empty seat by the window, gazing out at the sun filled sky, excited to see what I would remember.

"Alright everyone, bring your permission slips up to my desk and get your things together, we'll be leaving as soon as everyone's ready," my homeroom teacher Mrs. Grine called. I stepped in line behind Maddy Price, the perfect blonde, skinny ass, stuck up nitwit that believed she ran the school.

"Hey Aislinn, you ready to see some cute statues?" she winked and her friend Ginna snickered behind me saying, "I bet they're naked ones too!" and with that half my section in line began laughing profoundly.

I rolled my eyes and set the paper on top of everyone else's before returning to my seat, rubbing one of my cloud white eyes as though dirt was lodged in it. It stung painfully, but stopped after a moment. It took a few more minutes for everyone to turn in their papers and then we all gathered up our stuff to leave. Old desks scraped across the floor with shuddering noises as girls flocked out of the room as fast as they could.

I stood carefully grabbing my bag and followed out behind everyone else, a bright smirk plastered on my face as I look forward to what I was about to see.


	2. Chapter 2

**Sooooo, I had a few people add this lovely piece to their watch and figured that this would at least have a couple people reading it! Yay for couple readers! :D**

**You guys have kudos from me, heheheh. Feel free to review once you're finished~ I don't get better without people saying yes and no to things~ 3 enjoy!**

**Chapter 2:**

The bus heaved and spat as we all rode along in it, all the girls in the back thought it would be great fun to make as much of a ruckus as they possible could before we got to the museum. I think that Mrs. Grine was putting up with it, in hopes it would lessen the amount of noise they would make in the museum itself. Some of them had resumed shouting about naked statues, so I reached into my pocket, pulled out my iPod and put the buds into my ears to drown out the annoying shrieks.

Opening the book I had on my lap, I glanced through it before heading to my favorite page, dog-eared I'd read it so many times recently.

It was two full pages dedicated entirely to Hades. There were different depictions, how it was viewed in other cultures, what he could really do with all of his power, the type of things he kept in the underworld with him; Cerebus, for instance.

I smiled and scanned over the facts I'd long ago memorized, tracing the pictures people had viewed his as.

I didn't think of him in the Disney fashion, blue and cartoony, but there were certain things, after reading more, they had gotten right. He was depicted handsome and cunning, some said sadist, others said vengeful. But I thought differently, I saw it as, he was lonely. Charged to the task of ruling the Underworld was not an easy thing, and having no one there to help you with it probably made things worse.

The bus lurched again as we came to a red-light, and vaguely I saw smoke coming from the engine itself. But when I blinked it was gone, I must've imagined it, I thought to myself and closed the book to enjoy the sights passing out the window.

A few more minutes passed and we were pulling up in front of a large, Grecian looking building with long standing white columns. We exited the rustic bus and stood together in a general clump waiting for instructions.

"Alright, everyone here are your maps for the museum," Mrs. Grine said as she began walking around, passing a map to every girl.

"You have three hours to look around for yourselves, and then we'll meet up back here for lunch," she said and stood a few steps above everyone, "remember, you must find something you find interesting and write me a paper on it, due tomorrow. Everyone understand?" she asked, we all nodded in agreement, and with a wave of her hand dispersed almost immediately.

I walked straight up the stairs, and began looking for a room on the right where I knew most of my favorite gods and goddesses were located. A few girls came whirling past me and knocked me off balance, in which I landed unfortunately on someone else who was located behind me.

"I'm so sorry," I said as their arms had wrapped around me to keep me from falling onto the hard marble floor.

"It's alright, you aren't hurt are you?" the gentlemen's voice asked as I quickly scrambled to my feet, slightly embarrassed by what had just happened.

"No, no I'm just fine," I said, finally turning around to see who it was that had caught me, my breath caught in my throat for a moment before I swallowed.

He looked at me for a moment and smirked.

I couldn't believe my eyes, I had to remember to close my mouth as I looked him up and down, he was the spitting image of something that could have never been real, but he looked so real it was hard to think.

He seemed to be in his early twenties or so. He had wild black and blue hair, hair that if you looked at it right, almost appeared as though it were dancing. He was tall, around the same height as Seth's, and almost the same build too, lean and lithe, but still strong. His skin was pale, and his clothes were black, certainly setting a contrast. His face was angular, almost as if had been carved by an angel, but it was something else that caused my heart to skip a beat. His eyes, and even though mine were as white as snow, were of the blackest onyx anyone had ever discovered, and even more than that.

I blinked, realizing I'd been staring at him, though with his smirk still in place, he didn't seem to mind.

"Sorry," I said quickly and looked away, hoping he wouldn't see the blush creeping into my face.

"Thanks for catching me," I finished and quickly turned around, still heading towards the Lord of Darkness's room. I wasn't out of ear-shot when he'd thought I was and barely caught him saying,

"I'll see you soon Aislinn."

I spun on my heel, but there was no one to be seen.

Pushing that encounter to the back of my mind I proceeded to walk into the dimly lit glowing room. The room wasn't very large, and in fact there weren't many articles in the room that I didn't already know about, or had photos of beforehand. None of the things in this room were exciting, which disappointed me, I was really looking forward to maybe seeing things of Hades I'd never heard of before. No one else seemed to be coming in the room, and the clock on the wall showed I still had a good two hours left, which I could use to write my paper, and not have to do later tonight.

Smiling I sat down in a corner, happily surrounded by my favorite god, I pulled out a piece of paper, pondering what to write about. I remembered my view on Hades being lonely instead of vengeful and proceeded to write about it, using different pieces of his banishment, his task, and his actions in the Underworld as evidence. I sat writing for so long, and became so engrossed in my statement I didn't realize someone else had entered the room.

"Interesting place to be writing a paper," the familiar voice said a definite smirk playing in his voice despite the dim lighting. Startled I looked up to see the same guy from earlier looking into the glass at the artifacts of Hades.

"Hades is my favorite God, hence I'm writing the paper on him," I said and looked back down at what I was writing, inclined to begin again.

"But to be writing it in this dismal place?" he voice came out as a question, but there was a feeling behind it that led me to believe he wasn't inclined to leave this room as much as I was.

I smiled to myself and began writing the last sentence.

"I feel better when I'm near things I can understand about him, helps me think more clearly when I'm writing," I stated and began packing up my things to leave, the clock showing a I had about fifteen more minutes before we were supposed to meet at the entrance.

The man looked towards me, his black eyes almost glowing in the light, staring straight into mine. He ran his finger across the glass in front of a vase that was depicting a scene between himself and Persephone, never breaking eye contact.

"And, out of curiousity, how much do you think you know about the God of the Underworld?" he asked, his tone reminding me of my brother's when I was challenging him to something.

I blinked, a little confused by his sudden mood and tried to gather my thoughts as quickly as possible.

"Enough that he wouldn't frighten me if I saw him," I stated, confident. He turned thoughtful for a moment and walked over to where I was, picking up my paper with such grace I hardly realized he had picked it up.

I could feel my face turning red as he read it, grateful now that there was dim enough lighting he probably couldn't see, although his eyes flickered to me once while he was reading, and it felt as if he could see me plain as day. I blushed a bit more then.

He finished it, and set it down in front of me, taking slow movements, absorbing what all he had just read. His lean build walked towards the entrance of the room, hands in pockets, before he left he turned to me, his face full of something I couldn't understand.

"That, my dear Aislinn, is one point about Hades few have ever understood," he said and with another glance straight at my eyes, it felt like he was looking so far into my soul he knew me, took another step and walked out of the room.

Confusion consumed me as I raced out of the room, trying to catch up with him, but as before, he was nowhere to be seen. I looked around me, again and again, trying to figure out where the man might have gone. But there was no evidence he'd even been there, as if he'd disappeared, right into thin air.

I ignored the looks I was getting from a few classmates as I spun around over and over, and walked out of the entrance hoping to see the bus at the end of the stairs, it wasn't.

"How did he know my name…," I muttered to myself as I sat on the stairs to the entrance of the museum, a few of the girls had already returned. Maddy and Ginna had spent all of their time in the gift shop looking for things to buy, and I wondered idly how they planned to write a paper on it. I shook my head and began thinking about the black eyes that he stared at me, so much emotion had rushed to me when he had gazed at me before leaving, I wasn't sure how to sort it all out into proper feelings or words. There had been longing, a tugging to get up to him, sadness, rage, joy, it was too vast to name them all. Piercing eyes that had seen my soul, my mind could think of nothing else.

I remembered his features perfectly, my eyes rarely made mistakes to forget what I'd seen. The way he moved, and acted, there was a cockiness in him when he stood there smirking as I'd stared. I sighed and rubbed my eyes, thinking maybe I'd imagined the whole thing and had been reading way too many Greek Mythology books lately, my own dreams of what Hades looked like reflected almost perfectly to how the man had looked. I needed a break from the books, my head was making visions up now.

The rest of the group finally gathered together and we all headed off down the street to a restaurant that had been reserved especially for us. The city we were in was not very large, and our school was more than profitable enough to pay for everyone's meals, so it was always a nice treat when we got to somewhere fancy. We passed into the heavy glass doors, and just as I walked in, out of the corner of my eye, there he was, leaning against a post not too far away. Pulling quickly away from the group I rushed over to the post where he leaned, a smile so cunning on his face I began to worry.

"Who are you?" I finally asked, my eyes tight with focus, I needed answers. He smirked at me and sauntered over towards me.

He walked past me, opening the door to the restaurant I was supposed to be in, holding it open with a hand leading in like a perfect gentlemen.

I let my question go and followed the wave inside when I could feel him lean and whisper softly by my ear,

"I'm here to save you."

**Don't we all love cliffhangers? :D I think they're so amusing. Be aware, I may add chapter 3 very soon, but I might go back and re-edit a scene later on. **

**Thank you guys, I love you lots!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3:**

I remained silent during the entirety of lunch, listening and nodding along with whatever people were saying at this point. My stomach turned, even though I'd eaten something, nervous about what the man had said.

When I had come back inside everyone asked where I had been, and as I told them they all exchanged glances.

"Aislinn, there was no one at the door when you came in, you were by yourself," a curly haired blonde girl named Sheila had told me. They all looked at me as though I were insane.

"'Maybe those white eyes of your's are starting to show their true colors, you can't see real things and you make it all up," Maddy said with a sneer, Ginna snickering behind her.

I ignored her and picked around at the food on my plate, losing my appetite by the second, and worrying about what was really wrong with me. The girls resumed talking about events for later that evening, sports games coming up, and a giant birthday party that everyone in the school was invited to. I tossed my fork aside, putting my chin on my hands staring into space, I wanted nothing more than to be back home with my brother watching T.V. and talking about what I learned about the artifacts in the Hades room while we had been at the museum.

The teacher looked at me with a studying look before gathering everyone together and heading outside where the bus was waiting. The weather had changed from brightly shining, to the clouds had rolled in and there was thunder filling the background, I watched as the wind had even picked up, something was about to happen, and I was scared to know what it would be.

The rain just began falling on the metal body of the bus as we loaded in, and it smoked fitfully as we roared off. I kept my bag close to me as we drove, the sickening feeling in my stomach growing as the lightning flashed again, the thunder almost instantaneously afterwards.

I shuddered and sunk lower into my seat, turning up the volume on my iPod even farther as the girls were laughing and giggling with all they had, not noticing that the engine was almost blatantly on fire. But of course, only I could see it, and no one, especially after today, was going to believe me.

The bus was going down one of the last roads back to our city, and it was in a steep ravine. The rain was pelting against the driver's window coming down so hard that it was a constant stream, nothing visible. Even for me, I couldn't see through the torrential downpour.

Slightly panicked I pulled my bag tight against me, coiling myself into a ball, hearing the girl's voices in the background as they sang different songs, not noticing, that all of the sudden, our bus was slipping sideways.

My heart felt like sludge, each beat a thud hitting my chest so hard it hurt. My head turned so slowly it felt like hours before I could see out the window, everything was silent, no voices, no engine, only my heart pounding against me. The ground came towards us, black and sure in the pouring rain.

I clamped my eyes shut, and just before we felt the ground, the man's words echoed in my ears.

"I'm here to save you."

SMACK! My head flew forward and into the metal side of the bus. I heard glass shatter and metal shrieking as it ripped apart from the impact. It rolled sideways and my arm fell, only the now broken widow, slicing it. My leg twisted in the metal of the seats as we rolled, up was down, left was right, my head spun and ached like I'd never felt before.

The back of the bus slingshot forward and spun the bus around, I gripped the seat I was in for dear life as we flipped around. It finally stopped, and my world came crashing down.

Girls were screaming in pain as we sat there, and bit by bit I realized I could hear the fire roaring outside from the engine. My eyes fled in any direction trying to look for a way out, I tried to move but felt something pinning my leg. I twisted behind to see the metal from the seat, bent and trapping my ankle. I pulled again, ignoring the scream of protest from my arm, but to no avail, I couldn't break free.

Panting I tried to look around and see if anyone was still awake, or alive for that matter.

Smoke was starting to fill the interior of the bus. I coughed and tried with all my strength to yell.

"Is anyone out there!" I screamed, coughing as I inhaled more smoke. Sputtering, I tried again, and again.

"Please! Is anyone out there?" my lungs burned as if they were filled with acid.

My heart throbbed painfully inside my chest, and I flailed about trying to break free again. Tears rolled down my face as I pulled at my leg, my thoughts turned to Seth as I thrashed about.

'I don't want to die! I DON'T WANT TO DIE!' I screamed inside my head, staggering for air. My head swam with dizziness as the flames flickered not too far off, burning the seats.

It was growing in intensity as the heat burned my face, I tried my best to pull my jacket over my face.

"Please," I whispered though the hoarseness of my voice, tears streaming down my face.

There was a loud crash as the back of the bus split in half, I looked around and saw most of the girls bodies, unmoving, bloodied and a few crushed between the metal. I realized then, I was the only one still alive.

Suddenly there was a figure moving from the back of the bus towards me, walking around the shards and fire as it weren't touching him. He had a black chiton robe, and almost looked as though he were floating towards me. My eyes started blurring in and out; I didn't feel like I could hold on much longer. He stopped next to me, leaning down. His hand passed over the metal bar holding my leg down and it disappeared instantly. I scrambled around to find I couldn't stand on it, and the figure caught me in his arms.

He reached around, fitting an arm under my legs, I buried my face into his shoulder, trying to breather more easily. My arms were shaking as I tried to hold onto him with everything I had left. My arm and head hurt more than anything I'd ever felt before. Just as we were walking away from the bus, I opened my eyes to watch as it exploded into debris. I jumped, startled by the event, looking up at the face of my rescuer, his black eyes locked with mine.

I was shaking in his grasp, so much trauma in such a short time, I stuttered trying to speak, exhaustion flooding through me.

"P-p-please, he-help me," I managed to whisper before seeing his eyes again, and passing out in his hold.

**? P.O.V.-**

I looked down at the girl, blacked out in my arms as I made my way over to my chariot not too far off. The rain was still falling fairly heavily, chilling her to the bone as I put her inside the black, Pegasus drawn, chariot. Picking up the reins I tapped them once and we were off soaring high above the mess within a matter of seconds.

Lightning flashed across the sky , and I had to turn suddenly to avoid a massive thunderbolt hitting the chariot. Aislinn moaned from the background as I turned sharply the opposite direction to avoid another. The rain hadn't touched me in the slightest, but glancing towards the girl I saw her shivering from the cold then.

In one swift motion, I managed to maneuver my cloak off of myself, and carefully set it over the shivering girl. She wouldn't get rain on her anymore; the cloak was much too powerful for that.

I looked up at the sky again afraid of what might happen and formed a ball of energy in my hand before shoving it into the chariot giving it an unparalleled burst of speed.

We surged out of the storm within moments and almost over shot our destination before I slowed down, careful not to disturb Aislinn as she slept, she winced every once in a while when she bumped her wounds. The clouds were fading into the background, we had moved plenty past the range of the storm and I pulled the chariot to a stop as we landed over a valley.

Thanking Pegasus, I reached in and gently pulled Aislinn into my arms, holding her in my cloak as tightly as I could against me. She was still shivering, her clothes damp, and whimpering only slightly. My eyes hurt as I looked at her, how was I going to manage to use her when she herself had found the real me. The accident hadn't been caused by me, though it was tempting to speed things along throughout the day. I'd been watching the bus as it went, already knowing where it was going to crash. A small shudder passed through me as I remembered watching it slide off the road. Wait? A shudder? I shook my head annoyed, I didn't normally feel emotional when people died, or were about to die.

I carried her down into the cavern and floated down the hundreds of stairs rather than walking. Walking over to the boat master, I climbed in without acknowledging Charon, and stood at the end, looking out towards our destination. Impatience radiated off me as I stood there, waiting for the boat to move.

Whipping my head around to face Charon, my eyes were burning red, I could feel my hair was already orange as well.

"MOVE!" I bellowed, loud enough the cavern shook, and Charon jumped up and immediately began pushing off through the River of Styx. The souls of the dead reached up, trying to grasp at me, I kicked them back without a second thought. I Jumped off the boat when we landed and headed straight for my palace, hissing at Cerberus when he bounded over with a fresh corpse wanting to play.

I opened the door with a quick wave of my hand, too annoyed to talk to anyone, and ignored any of the maids that tried to ask questions. I passed through the cold hallways, back one door beyond my own bedroom and opened it.

The room was lit only by the candles in different sections, a few Greek tapestries hung off the walls, all of them portraying Hades is some way or form. The room was pleasantly furnished and the large canopy bed was covered in a red silk sheets. A trail of smoke following my hand as I waved it over the bed and the sheets pulled themselves back.

Laying her down carefully, I walked over to the adjacent bathroom and pulled out the bandages necessary to wrap her arm. Walking back over, I pulled her arm, gently treating it like tissue paper, out of the covers and blew a small ring of smoke over the wound. It would help speed up the healing process, and clean it out, but I couldn't really heal her because she was mortal, a technicality in being a God.

Wrapping the bandage around her arm, I set it back down, and stood up to leave. About halfway to the door I heard her moving and looked back at her. White eyes burning she looked up at me, she was going to pass out again soon, I could see the exhaustion coming through her.

Using her grunt effort she managed to sit up and look right at me, I smirked towards her, staring deep into the pure whiteness of her eyes.

"Hades," she managed to whisper before her arms gave out and she fell back towards onto the bed.

"Yes Aislinn," I walked over to her and brushed the strand of hair that had fallen back off her face.

Bending close to her ear, breathing lightly enough to cause shivers, I let my pride resume its place.

"Welcome to my Underworld."


	4. Chapter 4

**...*Begs for Mercy* I'm soooooo sorry I haven't updated regularly! . Please forgive me my loyal readers! I'm trying to keep up with conferences for senior presentations, and family stuff, and attempting to squeeze in homework somewhere. I really am sorry! Here's chapter 4, it's a bit short I know, and it's a little odd because the following chapters kinda mosey around the point...ANYWAY! Here's the poor raw rendition of Chapter 4, simply because my editing/editor seems to have become preoccupied, and I don't notice my own mistakes easily, I kinda read over it. I hope you guys like it! review and let me know what you think please! :D 3**

**Chapter 4:**

**My P.O.V.-**

My head throbbed as I slowly found myself waking up. I rolled over feeling the silk sheets beneath me. Wait, silk?

I sat up and looked around, confused at where I was.

Why wasn't I at home with Seth? What happened to going to the museum to see all the Greek God and Goddesses artifacts?

My head pounded again.

Why did I have such an earsplitting head ache?

Carefully moving my feet under me, the floor was a freezing temperature, I walked quickly over to the bathroom, looking at the decorations as I went. These things looked familiar to me, but I couldn't quite recall where I had seen them. I glanced at the mirror to see my face slightly bruised, nicks and cuts all over, and it was then I saw my arm was bandaged up. My clothes had changed too, I was wearing a dark gray one shoulder toga with a soft leather belt.

There was a small skull pin holding the shoulder on…it looked so familiar.

My head throbbed again, I needed to find some answers, and walked over to the door.

Just as I stepped into the hall a ghost appeared in front of me, she looked like a maid.

"Jeez, you scared me," I exclaimed, a little taken aback by her sudden appearance.

"I'm sorry Ma'am, wasn't meant to," she said and smiled at me, it was comforting to see a smile, this dark place, though fitting my tastes, was frightening to me at the moment. She was a pale gray image, floating constantly as through she never stopped moving. I needed to see someone I knew, someone to tell me what happened.

As if the maid could read my mind she started walking, beckoning me to follow behind her. It was a bit of a challenge to keep up with her as she floated quickly around the passages, there weren't many and it was easy to tell where I had come from to begin with. She led me to an archway and bowed with her hand out to indicate I was to go in. I smiled and thanked her politely before summoning up some courage to enter through.

The room was massive to begin with. It had tall, standing columns that fanned out at the top. The floor was full of a blue gray mist, and there was a table with a giant map of Greece off to the side. There was a huge fire put in the center of the room, glowing a soft translucent blue at the moment. I walked inside surveying the massive burning pit when I saw the throne behind it. It was tall, made of stone, and had a cushion sitting in the seat of it.

I stepped around it, tracing my fingers along the stone of the arm, admiring the craftsmanship that had been put into it.

"It's quite a bit of work yes, one reason I like it so much," a voice said from the doorway behind me. Turning around, I saw an extremely familiar man looking at me, and walking over with a pride I had never seen before. He smirked at me and went to his seat on the throne.

His hair flowed wildly lined with a blue and black fire, it was beautiful just to watch.

Everything seemed so familiar to me, and yet, I couldn't remember what had happened.

"Forgive me if I offend, but how do I know you?" I asked cautiously, trying to gauge his reactions as much as he seemed to be gauging mine. He looked at me intently, almost confused that I didn't recognize him.

He hurried over to me, grabbing my arm and looking at the bandage.

"No, you're still you," he mumbled quietly.

I pulled my arm back, feeling slightly disturbed, and took a step back. This person had no right to be so familiar with me.

"Aislinn, you don't remember what happened do you?" he said with a smirk and returned to his throne. My heart thumped with fear as he looked at me, black eyes staring straight through me as if he knew exactly what was in my heart, what I was feeling, what I was thinking. Eyes that glanced straight into my soul.

"This may work out slightly better than I planned," he mumbled again sparking more confusion in me, a devilish smirk appeared on his face, I shuddered in fright, goose-bumps appearing on my skin.

"Aislinn, I am Hades, God of the Underworld, Lord of the Darkness, and you" he paused and smoke came around my waist pulling me up to him,

"You, my dear sweet Aislinn," he said tracing a finger down the side of my face as I tried to wretch away, the smoke was unaffected entirely, he evil smile boring into my face as he spoke.

"You're my slave."

**Hades P.O.V.**

I took a deep satisfying breath as I watched her visibly shudder with fright. Her thoughts were rushing across her mind as fast as rain could fall. If I had found mortals amusing before, I certainly found them beyond entertaining at this point.

"But, I don't understand, what happened? Why can't I remember anything?" she asked clenching her fists in frustration. Somewhere deep in my head I sympathized with her, but I begin thinking of my plan to gain Olympus again as she strode around the room like a caged lion.

"Stop pacing!" I bellowed, my hair turning vibrant orange and red. She jumped and stopped. Her antics were less than annoying now, but still an itch in my skin I just couldn't reach.

I passed a small flame between my hands, thinking over different ways to enact my plan, while Aislinn stood there staring with her striking white eyes.

"Can I help you?" I asked, my voice full of charm, I knew she wouldn't be able to resist. But she did, she hardened her glare towards me, my anger bubbled up suddenly and I threw the flame at the column wall, destroying it, but it rebuilt itself again.

"You have anger problems," she commented, my fire dancing wildly over my skin with irritation flowing through me, "and you still haven't told me what happened to me."

I looked at her again, her spirit had changed, she wasn't frightened to be standing in my presence any longer, and it was then I remembered what she had told me at the museum.

"_How much do you think you know about Hades, lord of darkness?" I asked her, watching as she looked me straight in the eyes._

"_Enough that he wouldn't frightened me if I saw him."_

I smirked and rose from my throne, willing all the doors closed to the room we were in, moving over so I was in front of her, trying to appear as intimidating as I could I let my cloak billow out in full, floating as a ghost above her.

"You met me at the museum you were visiting for your Greek Mythology studies, I caught you when two girls ran by and knocked you over," she was listening intently,

"I saw you again while you were writing your paper on Hades, inside his specified room and talked to you for a time, asking what you thought of him," I bent the truth a little bit so she would remember less about the paper that I'd read, hoping she may forget some of her own theories, though it was unlikely.

"You were in a bus accident on your way home from the city. It was raining heavily, and the bus hadn't been working right, it slipped off the side of the road and crashed into a ravine, killing everyone, but I saved you, I promised I would," I said gradually lowering back onto my throne.

**My P.O.V-**

My head throbbed in pain as I fell to the floor on my knees, the memories coming back, filling in the blanks.

The crash of the metal.

The pain of the glass, the shrieks of the girls as we fell into the ravine.

The museum, meeting Hades, writing the paper.

"Why am I your slave?" I yelled over the noise of the memories in my head, practically deafening my ears as I remembered them. The bus, the smoke, the rain, all of it coursing through me at once; drowning myself in my own thoughts.

"I saved your life!" Hades replied watching my thoughts unbeknownst to me, his anger rising again. My arm ached suddenly, remembering the pain of the glass as it shred into my arm.

"I didn't ask you to, I never asked for the God of the Underworld to save me!" I yelled, slowing discovering what my situation was if I was to be his slave, not particularly something I wanted to do. It was true, I hadn't specifically asked for the Lord of Darkness to come save my butt from dying.

He smirked again, letting his anger subside, and waited until I had calmed down to say anything farther.

"Regardless of what things were," he said ego-filled to the brim with his true sadistic nature returning more and more by the minute, "you're not going anywhere."

And with that, he turned sideways in his throne, slinging his legs over the side, and grinned evilly. I kept my face stoic, not wanting to show him anything of what I was feeling, and simply stood there as his laughter began echoing, throughout all the halls in his palace.

**Poor Aislinn...though she DID ask SOMEONE to save her. :P **

**Sorta cliffy, I'm fond of those because they keep you luverly~ people coming back to read it again~~!**

**Review and tell me how you like it so far please! :D I adore hearing from all of you...**

**well...cept what'sherface who threatened to tie me to my chair and force me to write, XD She's kinda epic to me now. THANKS GUYS! **


	5. Chapter 5

**...I'm sorry I haven't updated...colleges...and tests...and school..and the play...I'm really glad you guys like it so much though! :)**

**And I'll really work harder at posting more regularly. I really will~ Please don't forget to review. And I"m sorry if there's mistakes, it's unedited again be my editor seems to think she can go off and forget about my stories. -_-; We're fixing this, bear with me please. Anyway~! Enough stalling!**

**Chapter 5:**

I paced about my room, annoyed and frustrated with my circumstances. Hades had saved me, yes, but as payment I was supposed to be his slave? Anger welled up in me as I spun around and threw the closest object, a vase, flying into the wall. I never asked for him to save me! I didn't ask to be here, stuck in the Underworld!

Slowly, my anger dissipated and I sat down on the edge of my bed with a huff. My first "introduction" of Hades, if you will, had gone less than cordially.

Book after book, I'd read everything there was to know about him, and even constructed opinions others hadn't about him, yet, even after all of that, I couldn't stand to meet him. His ego and pride were practically falling off of him; it was suffocating just to be near him. When he had told me everything about the accident and then laughed as I stood in front of him, I knew then, he didn't care for anyone except himself.

There was a loud knock on my door; it startled me and I rose to answer it with, nervous of what to expect. The maid from earlier passed through the wall and through me before turning around. I shuddered with chills, when she had passed through me it felt as though my body temperature had decreased to death in that instant.

"Ah, there you are Miss Aislinn," she said and smiling put her hands on her hips. I did my best to smile back at her.

"His Majesty is waiting for you in his throne room, he has some things he needs to discuss with you," she said and hovered over to the large bureau, opening it and beginning to sort through all the clothes.

I'd looked at them earlier. Surprisingly, some of them were quite radiant in colors and design, not something I had expected to see being locked in the Underworld.

"Ah here we are!" the maid said and held out a small, red, toga-looking dress with black roses embroidered all over it.

"What if I don't want to speak to 'His Royal Highness'?" I said, mockingly at the end. Her face fell, saddened by my harsh tone.

"Please Miss Aislinn," the maid came closer, grabbing her hands in hers, I shivered with the cold. Her eyes were soft and deep as I looked at her; she was depending on me for something.

"He's not really cruel, it's just a face he has to keep up, please, try to see past that. For his sake, it could mean more than a lot to all of us who are here as well," she said and let my hands drop. I pondered her words, then thought about my paper, and how I saw Hades as lonely rather than hateful. Maybe there was something more than his rough exterior. I sighed, and began unclipping the dress I was wearing, and stepped into the one the maid was holding out for me.

The ghost maid led me to the archway, and smiled again before disappearing.

"Courage," I mumbled under my breath, "I could use a little more right now," and stepped towards the doorway.

I ducked as fast as my knees could drop as a huge rage of fire roared over my head. It lasted a few seconds, before fading and I could see the giant flame in the center of the room was an eerie green glow, rather than blue. Hades was definitely in a mood, 'One of many to come,' I expected and continued my way across the cold marble floor towards his throne.

"Something bothering you?" I asked as he shot another stream of fire out a different window, away from me thankfully, but startling none-the-less. He ignored me for the moment, and continued leaning over his giant map of Greece, random figurines spread across it. His hair was orange and edgy, small embers crackling off whenever he turned his head.

I rolled my eyes at his ignorance and walked over to where he was standing, I couldn't make any sense of the map, all the letters were written in ancient Greek.

"What is this?" I asked curiously, picking up of the clay figures and rolling it around in my palm.

"That's Demeter you're holding, and this is the entirety land that we Gods rule over," he said and gingerly removed Demeter from my hand, placing her back on the table with care. I nodded understanding.

"So, what is it that has your bones in a knot?" I asked, watching as small ripples of tension flitted across his skin.

He leaned over the map a little longer, then rightened himself with a smug grin when he had registered that I was talking and watching him.

"Nothing of your concern, little Aislinn," he said with a smirk and with a flick of his hand covered the entire map with a thick curtain. He beckoned me over to his side, I hurried, and we left the room heading down towards the docks.

"I want to show you the rest of this world," he said and stepped with ease into the boat. A spark of happiness glowed within me, until I stepped wrong and nicked my foot on a small rock. I grimaced but clambered into the boat. Hades set a glance to Charon and we were off in an instant, though the River of Styx was not easy to maneuver in, so our travel would probably take some time. A chance to see the entire palace of Hades, who could pass up something like that? Despite him being an egotistical maniac.

Sitting in the front of the boat, I absently rubbed the cut on my foot as I watched all of the souls over the edge floating by. Millions of people just drifting by one by one, looking as peaceful as if they were nothing more but asleep.

"Be careful," Hades said suddenly from behind me where he was standing, "they aren't as peaceful as they appear to be, keep a wary distance from them," he said cautioning.

One soul drifted closer, and looking more carefully I recognized her. It was Maddy, the blonde girl I had gone to school with. Her hair and body flowed gently in the river, face relaxed and smooth. My eyes fixated on the beautiful figure of front me, leaning forward so I could see more. Her eyes flashed open towards me, pale white streams glowing, staring straight into my eyes. Something was nagging me in the back of my head to pull away, stop looking. But there was a stronger pull to look closer at Maddy's dead soul. Her face and hands reached out of the water, grasping up towards my face sweetly. I could feel my breath shudder as her hand touched me, trying carefully to pull my face closer to the water. My lip burned as if acid had touched it suddenly as she pulled me closer and they grazed the top of the water's surface.

With a sharp jerk I was pulled backwards into the boat, my head hitting the seat board. Hades hand lit and shot a powerful fire directly at Maddy's head, who at the time was trying to climb into the boat. She shrieked loudly and rescinded back down into the water, bubbling like she'd been boiled, then steam rising out of the River.

I found myself trembling as I realized I had been under some sort of trance, and shifted so I was sitting up again.

"I warned you to be careful," he said with a hiss and clenched his fists at his side, his hair flickering red before returning to blue. Hades' emotions were fairly easy to read, his fire almost always gave him away, but his reactions could never be measured. I had thought he was going to punish me for leaning out the boat, but he hadn't, whereas when we arrived at the next dock and Charon didn't tie the boat off fast enough, Hades send him flying into the River of Styx in a fit of rage.

He gave me a hand out of the boat, turning to walk up the stony path, I guessed I was supposed to follow him, and did my best to avoid super sharp rocks. He looked back at me, his hair beginning to glow with irritation as he waited at the entrance for me to catch up. I kept my head down, saying nothing, and waited for him to walk through the arch. Hades paused, his dark black eyes staring at me, and snapped his fingers before continuing on.

I stepped forward and felt soft leather underneath my feet; he'd given me a pair of Grecian sandals. Relief went through me and I skipped a few steps to catch up to his Majesty.

"This is where the sorting happens for the souls," Hades explained, leaning off a stone balcony. I looked over the edge and felt my jaw drop as I saw the massive room. There must have been 200,000 souls waiting in the line, and always filling up, never once was there a free space in the line. They proceeded to a gate where there were to caves leading in separate directions. One cave was the same green as Hades' hair had been earlier when he was angry, the other was, oddly enough, a soft pleasant white glow.

"What are each of the caves?" I asked looking up at his stoic face.

"The white one, leads to the Golden Valley. I suppose in your terms, it could best be compared to heaven, those who have done forgivable things and have done the best they could with their lives," he turned and began walking back down towards the dock, his arm wrapping around my shoulders and pulling me along just before the boat to the green cave had left.

"And the green one?" I asked, although I had a pretty good idea of where it led to.

"Where those who deserve it, are sent for endless pain and misery," there was surprisingly a note of sadness in his voice when he said it. My eyes softened as I thought about it, Hades' sadness.

''Though," he winked down at me, "They've all deserved it!" he laughed evilly. Nope, he wasn't sad. I rolled my eyes, away from him, and carefully slid down the path to the boat.

"So what about the River of Styx then? What part does it play in the sorting since I can clearly see souls here?" I asked, carefully stepping into the boat once again, and being sure to center myself on the seat so I wouldn't be tempted to lean over again and repeat the same incident as earlier.

"It's where the souls have to wait until they can be accepted into the line, before they are sorted. Each one must wait until they specifically are summoned. For some, it's years and years of time, for others, they hardly even pass into the River before they're summoned downwards and on," he explained, standing tall behind me. There were so many souls simply floating, I wondered what ever happen when too many people died at once, did they make room? Did the river overflow? Were souls simply accepted faster?

Sensing what was going on in my head Hades chuckled.

"They all fit," he explained, "it does become more treacherous to try and cross to get from one area to another, but the River is plenty deep to hold all the souls on earth at one time, at all times, part of the magic of this place," he finished.

I looked out over the edge of the boat again, gazing at all the souls we passed. The trip back to the main throne room took less time that it did for getting there. Charon dipped his head as Hades passed then looked up at me quickly.

"If you ever need my help, Miss Aislinn, I'm not too far away," he said and resumed his place on the boat without another word.

Back in the throne room, I sat on the foot stone beneath the chair watching Hades pace back forth.

"You've been fixated on something since this morning," I commented, watching his flame transfer between green and red, occasionally settling on blue for a moment.

"Do you plan on ever saying what you're thinking about?" he sent a glare my way.

"Not to you, no," he paused and grinned back at me. That evil cunning grin that only said, 'I'm definitely going to do something unpleasant.'

My eyes widened, goose-bumps rising on my skin. He waved his hand towards me, his way of calling me over to him.

"What?" I asked, trying to keep my voice level as he looked at me.

"We're going somewhere," he said passing waving his cloak quickly over my head. I ducked slightly, but when I stood up, I realized all he'd done was pull my hair back and pin one side of it up higher, adding slight decorations. My dress had changed too, it was a dark purple falling at a tilt down to my knees (one side higher than the other).

"Much better," he said and gathered me up in his arms rather quickly, practically flying through the halls. He set me down, more roughly than I would have liked. We were at his landing where his black chariot was sitting. We stepped in, and he slapped the reins, taking off like a freaking rocket, I gripped the side of the chariot as tightly as I could.

"Something wrong?" he asked, seeing me bracing myself tightly against the wood.

"I don't like heights!" I said too afraid to open my eyes now, we had shot into the sky plenty quick enough I didn't want to see how far up we were. I heard him laugh and he snapped the reins again. Much to my fear, he sped us up and we soared downwards. Just before we could touch the ground we pulled up, floating above the land and breakneck speeds. Hades turned around to look at me, chuckling when I glared a look that would have killed. He twisted slightly and pass both reins into one hand, extending one out to me.

"Come see," he said and hauled me up with one swift pull so I as standing between him and the front of the chariot. I gripped tightly to the wood in front of me, tightly shutting my eyes.

"Open your eyes Aislinn, look," he said, bending down by my ear so I could hear him above the wind that was racing by us. I was insane, I was losing my mind, everything in me screamed against opening my eyes. But, with all the force I could muster, I forced my frightened eyes apart to see.

I felt the wind rush out of me, my eyes widened. We were flying through a forest, skimming over a river, Pegasus touching once in a while to spray up water. Trees were flying by us, birds hardly being able to keep up as we went. I glanced to the side and the flowers we passed looked like nothing but streams of constant color. The rush of the speed, rather than scaring me, began to exhilarate me. I breathed it all in as we sped a little faster, coming to the edge of a waterfall. The bottom not even visible as we came closer and closer.

My hands tightened in panic when I felt Hades' hands close over mine, getting them to relax.

"Don't worry, nothing's going to happen," he said and my heart skipped a beat as we barreled over the edge. His hands were still covering mine as we flew downwards. The spray of the water felt refreshing as we went, never really getting me wet, but still touching my skin all the same. I felt the chariot shift as Pegasus pulling up, leveling out as we continued flying along the river.

He began climbing up into the sky again, keeping the ascent easy to adjust to, but I felt my breathing quicken all the same. My heart thudded loudly against my chest, I vaguely wondered if Hades could hear it, it was beating so hard. I opened my eyes again, and couldn't see any land below us. We'd flown so high there was nothing but clouds everywhere beneath us. The wind flowing against us, I smiled as I looked at all the white underneath us. Hades' hands closed around mine, but it didn't bother me, he lifted them off of the wood of the chariot, stretching out my arms to the sides, savoring the feeling of flying, of absolute freedom.

I saw the sun setting in the distance and when I looked up, saw a giant, almost palace floating high in the sky, set upon the strongest of clouds.

I looked back at hades, my hands back on the wood and his taking over the reins again.

"Is that what I think it is?" I asked, our speed slowing rapidly.

Hades eyes looked as if they had darkened somewhat and he nodded.

"That's Olympus."


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6:**

"Here's where your part comes in," he said as he landed the chariot neatly on the outside of, what I assumed to be, the High Court. The entire area was surrounded in beautiful Grecian structures like those I'd only read about. Everything in perfect harmony with the objects or people it was around. I looked at him curiously, then remembered his deal, and that I was owned by him. I felt a bitter taste in my mouth from the remembrance, freedom was something I'd taken for granted before.

"Aislinn, since you are my slave, you must remember that you need to agree with everything I say, and you are not to speak unless I tell you to, is that understood?" he said, his tone growing a bit colder than it had been the entire way here.

"Yes sir," I said, using submissive language that would help me stay in more character. He nodded curtly and I noticed there were darker circles around his eyes, his hair was just as unruly, but his clothes looked truly dark and haunting, near him it felt like all the joy and happiness was gone from life, I shuddered. His true look of a God of the Underworld.

I gulped and followed in behind him.

It took everything I had to not faint right then on the spot. In every direction I looked I could see the Gods and Goddesses I had been studying for years. In the corner I could see a woman who looked to be Artemis, Goddess of the Hunt. She was beautiful, pale, silver haired with a bow around her back. She had a soft smile; I could almost feel her kindness coming just from that. There was a laugh around them and an arm wrapped around her. It was a man, his hair as gold as the morning sun, his body sculpted to perfection (a particular trait I'd noticed among most of the Gods as I looked around, women included).

'He must be Apollo,' I thought to myself, making sure to keep right near Hades as he approached a larger looking throne. There was a man atop, his hair long and brilliantly yellow, each time he moved there were sparks jumping all around the locks. He was a larger muscled man, talking to a women on his right, she was so regal looking I didn't even have to think to recognize I was looking at Zeus and Lady Hera. I gulped silently and tried to remind self to breathe. Surely this was all a dream right? I'd wake up, no one would have died, I'd be back with Seth, going to school like any other day… right?

I bit the inside of my lip nervously as Hades drew me closer to him, trying to ignore the stares we were getting.

There was a small hush as we stood in front of Zeus, I hoped he would notice us soon. The tension from the observers was really becoming uncomfortable. I was so close to Hades, I could feel his fire starting to rise in irritation, and quickly tried to think of something. Placing my hand over my mouth, I pretended to be choking on the smell of something and coughed a few times. It worked and Zeus turned to look at us. My hand stayed there, too awestruck to lower it.

His lightning flickered in, what I would guess, irritation. Royalty was all I could think of, the gods, the court, the throne, the buildings, even the sound of their voices. It was the tone that was passed down through the ages, kings and queens to their offspring. The leading quality that was bred into their genetics, if they even had DNA.

Zues hardly glanced at me before glaring at his brother. Family feuds, prevalent even in the Gods. Internally I rolled my eyes in sarcasm, but on the outside, I was concentrating on not wetting myself from the way Zeus looked at us. He didn't look upon me too fondly, in fact I thought I could almost feel his lightning working its way into my nerves, shocking them individually.

"Hades," he said filled with anger.

Hades didn't even react, as if his brother were nothing more than a pesky fly buzzing around.

"Hello Zeus, how've things been?" Hades asked with a smirk, his evil beginning to radiate off him in waves; I shivered involuntarily.

"Hades, you have no right to be here. You were banished from Olympus if you remember correctly," he said, infuriated to see his brother here again. I blinked and remembered when Hades had tried to take over Olympus before, and what his punishment had been. Hades shrugged and took a step towards Zeus.

"Yes, yes, don't think I could have forgotten that. However," he paused and I felt Hades' smoke wrap around my wrists and my mouth. What was he thinking? There was nothing saying I was going to be bound. I tried to struggle against it when it simply tightened. My eyes widened when Hades walked towards me running a finger down my face, but not releasing the bonds.

"you fail to see who this girl is, and if you can't see openly, she's mine. Forgive me if I'm wrong, but from what the prophecy says, I'm pretty sure you don't want me harming her," Hades said adding a chuckle in. I got the feeling if he was going to hurt me in front of everyone, he wouldn't hesitate in the slightest. Water welled up behind my eyes, but I forced myself to calm down. I wasn't going to cry, not in front of all of Olympus and especially in front of Hades.

'It's all part of the role,' I thought to myself, 'He wouldn't have treated me like the way he had earlier if he really was just going to kill me,' I kept repeating to myself, trying to convince myself of what I was thinking.

Zeus walked a little closer, but stopped when Hades held a dagger made of bone up against my throat.

"Her eyes," Zeus practically gasped. It was so quiet. Hades' chuckle came again.

"That's right Zeusy, and since I saved her, she's mine by law, or did you forget your own words?" Hades said, his voice mocking his brother. Zeus tried to step closer.

"Ah ah ah, that's plenty close Zeus," Hades said and held the knife against my skin.

" Hades, can't we talk this over civilly without you taking the girl hostage? You know what she means to us!" Zeus bellowed. His anger rising higher and higher to the point lightning bolts were crackling across the room.

My breathing sped up in fear. I didn't think Hades was acting this out anymore. His hand was tight against my neck, and I could feel the sharpness of the bone plenty well. Frantically, I looked over to where I had seen Artemis earlier, my eyes locking with hers almost immediately, begging, pleading for her to help me. Her face was full of sadness and when she looked as if she were going to do something, Apollo's arm stopped her. I looked up at him, he looked just as sad as she did. But knew they couldn't beat Hades, not even together.

"Hades, we all know you don't intend to hurt her." Zeus said with a smirk, trying to call his bluff. I shivered as Hades' body temperature then felt as cold as the souls of his Underworld. He pulled my arm out from behind me, and showed the long, deep cuts that adorned it.

'But I got those from the bus.' I thought for a moment, 'Although Zeus wouldn't know that.'

I squirmed uncomfortably as Hades' nails dug into a wound, then yelped in pain when he pushed hard enough to draw blood. A few tears escaped my eyes, though my head was pulled back enough I doubt anyone other than Hades could see. I saw his face and his smile, pulled tight; the Devil's Smile.

Zeus didn't move, trying to calm down. Not a thing could be heard except for maybe my own breathing.

"What do you want Hades?" Zeus asked, surrendering to his brother, his teeth still grinding. Without looking I could tell Hades was grinning like the Cheshire Cat of Alice in Wonderland.

"You know what I want, and just because I'm so generous, I'll give you one week to decide if you want to give it up," Hades said and the gray ashen smoke began swirling around us both. It grew thicker and thicker until I couldn't see anything. I could hear thunder rumbling like a jet engine, Zeus' voice blasting my eardrums.

"HADES!"

I felt a huge rush very suddenly, and tumbled forward, landing on cold marble.

My head was spinning so I didn't move up off of the frozen floor. I didn't hear Hades, and at this point didn't care where he was.

There were hot tears streaming down my cheeks; the whole shock of where I was finally kicking in. I was trapped in the Underworld, having to serve the Lord of Darkness, who was using me for some intricate plot he'd set up against his brother.

My classmates had all perished in a real bus accident, I really had been looking at Maddy's dead soul. Each scream, each plea echoed in my ears as I remembered what had happened that day, when the rain was falling and the engine was on fire.

I sobbed and pulled myself together in a tight ball on the floor, not caring whether someone saw me or not. I was in a place with the dead, no one here for me, and worst of all, my brother believed I was dead. I felt the sob shake through me when I began thinking about Seth. How was he taking it? Was he coping or distraught? I would never get to see his next swim meet, or see him in general. No more of his jokes, or his help. My face felt warm and flushed, I wanted to go home. I picked myself up to my knees, my stomach rolling in agony. Seth's face flashed through my head, I wanted to see him more than anything. I was a prisoner to Hades, and who knew how long he was going to keep me. I sobbed again, my stomach lurching, my head spinning, and my world felt as if it had just split in front of me. Distantly, I heard footsteps hurrying over to me; an arm came around my shoulder, pulling me up.

"Aislinn," Hades' voice came, softly. I opened my eyes, and in seeing him, fumbled out of his grasp until I was standing a few feet away. The tears still rolling down my face, I backed away as he tried to step closer.

"Aislinn, please," he said, reaching his arm out to me.

I shook my head, my fist shaking at my side. Everything coming into place as to why he'd saved me, why'd he'd been so kind to me at first, my role finally making sense in all this.

"Y-you used me!" I screamed trying to breathe.

"Aislinn, I was never going to hurt you," he said his eyes trying to plead with me. I almost believed the words he was saying when I remembered the smirk he had as he dug his nails into my already wounded arm.

"Liar!" I yelled again, anger at full tilt in me, "You're lying to me! I-I know what y-you had been thinking!" I stuttered, gasping for breath.

"Aislinn please, calm down," he said inching his way closer.

"You weren't going to hesitate if you wanted to hurt me! You wanted me to trust you! That's why you saved me! So you could use me against the Court! " I screamed again, falling onto my knees, my stomach clenching violently. My gut was retching as I cried.

"You're a liar!... you're..a.. liar," my voice was faltering, the room was moving in too many circles.

I didn't say another thing. I braced myself against the marble, and threw up.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7:**

My eyes were blurry and fuzzy as I opened them, trying to remember where I was. I shifted my weight and felt the familiar silk sheets beneath me, someone must have moved me back to my room. Blinking a few times, my eyes adjusted to the low lighting. I tried to move to sit up when my head spun so violently I lay back down. I groaned from the dull head ache that was beginning to grow in size. The previous day's events came back in a flash, remembering how I'd been crying and yelling at Hades at how he'd used me, then throwing up in the throne room.

'I must've passed out afterwards,' I thought to myself as I stared up blankly at the ceiling. Moving slowly across the tiled floor, I walked over to the window that was attached to my room. It showed out to the River of Styx, flowing gently around in the same patterns it always did, and always would for eternity. Glancing out a little farther, I saw Hades getting off at the sorting area, Charon beginning to make his way back to the dock in front of the palace gates. I narrowed my eyes thoughtfully. Charon had told me, if I needed anything, I could ask him. I needed a way out of here.

'I'm going to have to move quickly,' I thought as I rushed over to the wardrobe and found pant-like clothes, pulled out a shorter tunic and tied it off with a belt. There were many creatures I knew I had yet to encounter in the Underworld, and I knew I was going to need something to fight them off. Scanning the room, I saw some smaller objects, nothing really helpful, until I noticed a medium sized sword carefully hidden into the decoration of the room. I briskly walked over to it, testing the blade to see if it would slice. It would.

Smiling I attached the leather sheath around my waist and headed out of my room as fast as I could before someone could catch me, like the maid, and alert Hades I was trying to leave.

Passing through the halls I made a wrong turn and came face to face with Hades' beloved Cerebus, who was eyeing me as the most delicious meal in the world.

"Shit, shit, shit," I muttered as I began running blindly down any hall I could see to lose the dog that was nipping at my heels. I veered sharply around a right corner and jumped into a closet that was right around it, relaxing only when I saw the dog go roaring past and down another hall.

I exhaled, and got up again, running back up the many turns I'd gone down, avoiding as many of the ghosts as I possibly could. A few saw me, but said nothing and continued on with their assigned chores. I was thankful none of them decided to take any particular interest in me and continued my way out of the entrance and down the rocky path.

'I can make this,' I though triumphantly as Charon's boat came into view. I slid down the rocks, hitting a rock to slow down rather painfully, but kept going all the same.

"Charon!" I called out as I neared him, he stood at attention, a weird skeletal grin on his face as he saw me.

"Miss Aislinn, what can I do for you?" he asked his eyes questioning me as he surveyed my clothing my choice.

I tightened my eyes and felt courage filling through me, I was going to do this.

"I need out of the Underworld, please, I know you know of what for me to get out. I can't stay here anymore. Hades is nothing more than any other person said before in history. Selfish, hateful, vengeful, and only thinking of his own gain," I sighed slightly, "I was wrong, I don't think Hades is a lonely person anymore…he's happy with his own depressing moods."

Charon listened as I continued to rant, offering me an acknowledgement every once in a while to show he was really paying attention. His eyes saddening as he heard me talk.

"Aislinn, I really would help you if I could. But should I even try and touch that boat, Hades'll know where I am instantly, and if he hasn't summoned me, it'll be beyond questionable," Charon said sadly, "He can track me very easily."

Sadness filled me as I heard him say this, but when I looked up I saw the staff laying in Charon's boat and did the next best thing I could think of. If Charon couldn't take me across, I'd get there myself. I jumped up and pushed the boat off with one hard shove and hopped in as it took off into the River of Styx.

"Aislinn! Wait! Comeback! You don't know how dangerous it is to be out there and not know where you're going!" Charon yelled to me, waving his arms in a panic. I ignored his pleas and taking hold of the staff began pushing the boat in the opposite direction of the sorting room, down a separate tunnel entirely. The boat wasn't difficult to steer, and I caught on pretty quickly on how it worked.

"Now to get out of here," I said to myself, pushing deeper into the tunnels.

The current was pulling gently, easy to steer and relax in. It was a struggle to remember that there were dead souls floating by. I'd been pushing the boat for hours, and unfortunately had forgotten to eat anything, or bring anything to eat before leaving.

I sat down in the boat to rest for a while. Watching as the water flowed by. I thought about Seth and wondered how in the hell I was going to be able to explain this all to him. Where I'd been, how I'd survived. Boy, what that going to be one for the record books. Sighing, I didn't notice a soul had already begun to climb into the boat until it grabbed hold of my foot and began pulling me back towards the water with him

"Eerrgh!" I struggled against him, reaching around for the sword I'd brought with me. I caught hold of the solid hilt and gave a hard swing into the arm of the soul that was holding onto me. It screamed in agony and slid back into the water. Souls couldn't touch the sword I had? That was going to be useful.

A few more souls tried again, and each was met with a violent strike of the sword and sent back screeching into the River of Styx. I smiled triumphantly as I sent another fleeing back to the acidic waters.

There was a split ahead of me, and there was a stronger current towards the left one, but no matter how hard I tried to paddle away from it the River continued pulling the boat down into the raging tunnel. I felt panic well up inside of my chest and noticed there were souls under the boat pushing the boat towards the faster current as well.

"Shit," I muttered and braced myself against the seat of the boat, pulling the staff in with me as we tipped down into the tunnel, "Well, no need to try and make friends with the dead I guess," I added sarcastically.

The water started a little quickly then continued gaining speed until I felt like I was inside of a roller coaster it was so violent. The boat was shoved up the side of the walls, and even spun around in a few circles.

My knuckles were turning white I was grasping the wood so hard, thankfully, none of the deadly water landed on me, or in the boat for that matter. Looking ahead, I began seeing a light up ahead and breathed a sigh of relief that I was nearing the end of this nightmare. But as I squinted and grew closer, the tunnel was glowing a sickening green.

The tunnel curved and I could see there was a massive drop off ahead, leading to the green cave. My heart was racing as I began looking around the boat for anything I could use to get out of here. The boat spun around again, sending me backwards closer and closer to the edge, the water echoing loudly in my ears as I saw my escape. Right on the outside of the hole was a tree root, I didn't have time to see if it was stable. The boat was beginning to spill over the side as I stood up, pushed off with my legs and jumped, reaching for the root. I caught the rough bark in my hand, and watched as the boat took a nasty plunge into the murky green water. My breath shuddered as I saw the dead souls clambering on top of it, screeching and roaring as they pulled it towards the bottom. Their eyes turned to me then, black hollow sockets aimed at me, with nothing more than my death on their minds. I struggled as my arms were beginning to shake from holding myself up, there was an incessant burning from where the glass had cut my arm, and began swinging my legs up onto the root, locking them around it tightly so I wouldn't fall, yet. Panting I searched frantically for a way to escape, there had to be something nearby. But no matter where I looked, the only thing in the cave was the green hole at the bottom. My hands stung as I held myself up, straining and aching from all the stress I'd had to go through in the past few days. Quivering I held myself tighter, praying for a miracle.

The root cracked, my eyes flew open and watched in slow motion as the root fell from the side of the cave, my legs and arms letting go from it.

Falling through the air, it felt as peaceful as swimming, no restrictions.

My limbs felt like syrup had grabbed them as I moved, looking down at the water coming towards me.

They were howling, the souls were howling for me to hit the water, all of them cheering. My hand moved slowly in front of me, trying to reach out for them.

Inches from the surface, I thought of Hades.

My heart stopped.

I wanted Hades to save me.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8:**

I never touched the surface. I felt the souls grabbing onto me with so much force, it was impossible to get out of. Their angry hisses ringing in my ears, trying to pull me in with them. But I never touched the water. There was thick gray smoke surrounding me, inside of almost a cocoon-like structure. It was holding me off the water and pulling me back up the tunnel I'd fallen down through. When it broke through the original cave I'd gotten sucked into it stopped on a ledge nearby, setting me down with ease. Rising to my feet, I watched unsurprised as the smoke began to take form again. Within seconds, there was an extremely displeased Hades standing in front of me, his arms crossed and his face rigid. I kept my gaze down, tucking away how happy I was to be seeing him, regardless if he was pissed off at me. He was wearing tight low-riding black jeans and a gray tight shirt that practically defined every muscle. It was difficult, to say the least, to keep my eyes off of him. The silence continued to hang in the air, thick and nerve-wracking.

"I'm sorry," I finally managed to whisper, trying not to choke on my own words. He had his back towards me, his left hand resting on the side of the cavern wall, slowly digging his nails in the iron-clad rock, his fist wrapping around it. Rage flaring off his fire he spun and threw the rock across the river and into the wall, hitting it so hard it roared like thunder when it split.

I flinched when he spun around and hit the wall again with his fist, which I now noticed was dripping with blood. It took one blink and his fingers were healed again.

"Do you have any idea what could have happened to you," he said softly, but each word forced out with anger. I kept silent, he didn't need to hear my excuses.

"Those souls," his voice was shaking, "what they would have done," he never finished the sentence. Hades stepped towards me suddenly, grabbing me tightly in his arms, shaking me.

"I don't ever want to see you out on this river again, am I understood?" he said with eyes staring at me so coldly I was afraid that I would freeze. I nodded eyes wide with fright, goose-bumps crawling across my skin. He let go of me and walked over to the water, waving his hand over the surface to summon a boat to carry us back to the main hall. I hopped into the boat without saying anything and it began moving.

We moved along in silence. Hades' hair was radiant orange and red, although his cross-armed stance complete with a look that could kill was plenty easy to read that he was more than angry. Trembling as we went, I could see Charon waiting on the dock. He was pulling himself literally back together as separate bones were strewn around him.

'Hades must have been fairly rough,' I thought to myself, grabbing the boat as we docked. Hades stepped out of the boat, his cloak following him in a flowing mass. Scrambling up to follow him, I paused to apologize to Charon. He looked up at me with a blank expression then resumed putting his bones back into place. Something felt out of place the way Charon had looked at me. His face was so blank, it was as though he hadn't recognized me in the slightest.

Hades stood tall and still as a statue as he watched the river flow from a window in his throne room. His hair was still a bright radiant orange as he looked on, I didn't bother thinking about why he was angry, I knew fully well. I sat with my arms wrapped around my knees on the stone step beneath Hades' throne, this thick, heavy, feeling in my stomach kept me from speaking at the time.

Words scrambled through my head, things I wanted to scream at Hades out of anger and others questions that desperately needed answers.

The most irritating one being about my eyes. Yes, they weren't like everyone else's, but they didn't seem any different than anyone else's either. I could see some things much more clearly than a lot of people, but I figured that just meant I had really good vision. Having listened to the transaction between Hades and Zeus, I now knew they had much more importance than I'd ever realized, but what it was, was still unanswered.

"Hn," came a small, smirking sound, from Hades that stirred me out of my thoughts for a moment. I glanced over at him, but he hadn't moved. His arms were still crossed angrily and his hair hadn't changed its shade in some time.

"You shouldn't have tried to leave," he suddenly said, breaking the dense, continuous silence. My defensive side rushed straight to my mouth.

"You shouldn't have decided to keep me as your prisoner," I snapped back, realizing I had plenty of reasons to be upset with him. He turned to look me in the eyes, his face still tight with anger. Those dark onyx eyes, the ones that held so much more sorrow and loneliness than Hades would ever admit to, least that's what I thought. He almost smirked again as he recognized I was staring at his eyes rather than being upset with him.

I grit my teeth harder in my mouth.

"You should have listened to me and stayed here," he said, his tone final.

I ignored the tone and forced more of an argument.

"You shouldn't have saved me from the bus wreck!" His hair turned radiant red then, and his fist clenched at his side.

"You asked me to! You cried out for help and specifically said 'ANYONE'!" I stood up, tightening my own hands till they hurt.

"You shouldn't have caused the wreck!" I screamed back at him, watching as his face fell to almost speechlessness. I lowered my voice back down.

"Yes, I know you caused it. You killed everyone in the bus wreck and left me to live so you could use me against the court, I've figured that much out fairly easily," I paused walking a bit closer, feeling like I could strangle the God in front of me.

"You caused the wreck and took me away from my world, took me away from my only family that cared about me! You've caused unimaginable pain for my brother! And all so you could attempt to take over the courts with some maniacal con you've constructed!" I stood strong, feeling courage run through my veins.

He remained silent as he heard my argument.

"I used to think Hades was lonely, that Persephone didn't really bring him any enjoyment, that he was an outcast from his family and only had the dead to call family. But then again, who can call the dead family when they themselves have lost their souls to this abyss," my voice was growing quieter, but still bolstered confidence in the tone,

"I looked past his sadism and knew he was simply hurting, because it's the same I feel in my life. But I had something different, I had a brother who loved me unconditionally, and would always be there for me no matter what would happen," I paused and watched Hades expression remain the same.

"I thought Hades was lonely, because I know I was lonely every time I had be without my brother, so I felt sorry for him at first. But the more I looked at it, I wasn't sorry for Hades, I didn't take pity on him, because from what I'd read, he would have hated pity and been alien to compassion. But I know there was one emotion that Hades was NOT alien to, he knew what love was. He understood and knew what an indescribable feeling it is," I could feel myself almost crying as I thought about what I'd written in my paper, the same words that I was repeating now.

I took a deep breath to settle myself before continuing.

"But I can assure you, after meeting the Lord of the Darkness himself, and having been with him the past few days, there is nothing Hades would like more than an opportunity to use someone to gain access to control Mt. Olympus as Zeus does now!" I yelled at him, internally bracing myself for his retaliation.

Hades' eyes flickered irritation, but yet he still said nothing. There was no sign if I'd said anything to actually get through to him, nor if he was really affected by it by more than just irritation.

_Say something, _I begged in my mind, _Say ANYTHING! _ But I was only met with still irritated silence.

But he never spoke another word that day.

I sat with my feet draped out the window in my room, watching the events of the underworld. Souls passing easily through the River Styx, all the river now having a green fog over the top of it. The same green as the endless torture for those who haven't made the best of their lives. The doorknob of my room turned, catching it out of the corner of my eye, I turned to see who was intending on walking in this late at night.

Slowly the creaking door peaked open and I recognized Charon's eyes looking in.

"Charon? What is it?" I asked hopping off my windowsill and going over to him. For a skull it was uncanny how easily it was to tell he had a troubled expression on. He fiddled with his fingers for a moment and quickly shut the door to the hall with a worried look.

"I need to tell you about something, before Hades truly does get a hold of you," he said quickly, trying to rush his words out, afraid of being caught at any moment.

A little taken aback I felt puzzled but urged him to continue.

"What is it Charon?"

He deep dark eyes stared soullessly into mine, an utter balance in white and black.

"You need to know why everyone's after your eyes."


	9. Chapter 9

**...I'm sorry... ;_; I know I haven't updated in forever, and everyone's been emailing me all upset-like...and I keep getting threats**

**from a certain annoyance in school! (Yes, you know who YOU ARE). I know there isn't too much detail and I kinda feel bad for not really explaining it. But in coming chapters I will elaborate! :D I love you all! Keep reviewing please! I need reviews!~ 3**

**Chapter 9**-

Momentarily stunned, it took me a minute to realize he was already talking about it.

"Your heritage leads back to a Greek hero named Sepherous, who helped one of the gods, Ares I believe, in restoring one of his temples. Ares' temple had fallen to ruins recently because everyone was honoring other gods in the festivals lately. Sepherous, loyal to only Ares single-handedly spent the time to rebuild the entire temple to the God of War. When he was finished, the temple was the most grand in all the land, and other Gods were envious and were considering to kill Sepherous so no one would ever keep up the temple.

Out of gratitude Ares agreed to grant Sepherous his greatest desire; eyes that can see through a person, into their thoughts and feelings, and even into their decisions," he paused letting me try to catch up,

"The eyes would forever protect Sepherous until the day he died of old age because he would always be able to maneuver around the Gods' feelings and decisions, avoiding the many attempts at his death."

"Don't you see? Your eyes have the power to see into the outcome of every decision that a person can make! You can see into the ultimate reality and help reshape it! You're able to shift the future as you see fit by influencing everyone else's decisions. Hades wants to use your eyes to reshape the outcome of the Mt. Olympus Court so that he can be in charge again, that was his original plan," Charon said, rubbing the back of his head.

Confusion was my first defense, "But I've never been able to do anything special with them before? How could that be?"

"You saw the smoke and fire in the bus before it was actually there, you were able to see Hades when no one else could, your eyes have potential, you just have to learn how to use it," he said and began scrambling up to leave.

"In fact, though I've only heard it rumored, your eyes will even change color to your emotions at some point. I have to go, quickly before his majesty realizes I'm here," he said in a breath and ran out of the door faster than a ghost could move through a wall.

I sat trying to process everything I had just learned. My eyes could rule Olympus if I learned how, and to my great distaste, I figured I would only be able to learn how to control them through Hades teaching.

_Or, _I smirked to myself, _I can teach myself by practicing on Hades himself. _

"Actually," came a voice that made me jump it frightened me so badly, Hades appeared out of the shadows with a very…distant look, "You've only descended from Sepherous." He walked out lazily, almost like a cat and faced me with his arms crossed.

"You can only use it partially, you can see bits and pieces of things. But," he moved in a rush of smoke and was mere centimeters away from my face,

"through a God, You can unlock your full potential," he whispered evilly and pulled back only slightly. I felt frustration build up inside of me, but was more focused on the anger I felt towards Hades for kidnapping me.

"You're nothing but a liar," I said quietly, feeling tears warm behind my eyes.

He scoffed, almost mockingly.

"Praytell, what have I lied to you about? I've said nothing that has not happened."

I looked at him, straight in those deep onyx eyes. The ones that unlike Charon's held a soul. I stared deeply into his, seeing the agony he's been through, the pain he's suffered, and the egotistical side of him that creates a mask for him to hide behind. I watched, seeing his soul swirl in his eyes as though it were a galaxy with its own creation of stars and colors I could not name. His pain was the most overwhelming emotion, and I could feel a tear roll down my cheek as though I were feeling his pain for myself. It came from his loneliness, his want of love from a family, from friends he's never had, and for a love for one, he has only begun to feel.

I blinked and everything vanished, as though I'd imagined the whole thing. Hades was looking at me with his devilish smirk as he watched me search into his soul.

"See what a God can do for you Aislinn? I can help you bring out your full potential. You can rewrite the future as you see fit! All you need is my assistance," he said trying to persuade me into his scheme again.

I didn't listen to him as I watched his lips move. I understood fully the words that he was saying and what they meant, but I didn't truly take it to heart as to what they really meant.

"You said you would save me. Saving doesn't only mean a physical life, it means fixing the person into making them whole again," I told him quietly and moved away from his closeness. There was a pause in the room and from the corner of my eye I saw his hair back in its black shade, with a light blue tinge to it.

"Aislinn," his voice came out quietly, almost worriedly now instead of his scheming side he just shown.

"Saving a person is not a one-phase task," I looked at him thoughtfully, "it's a lifelong commitment."

He flitted over to the door in blur of smoke, but didn't make any move to leave quite yet, apparently needing some distance between uss. There was an annoyingly long pause between us as I waited for his to speak.

"I don't want to use you Aislinn," he finally whispered quietly.

"Then why not let me return to my brother? Let me go home?" I asked hopefully, wishing he would let me see Seth again at least.

"Aislinn, as cruel as I may have been, and as ridiculous as it sounds, you can't go home. You need to stay down here, for your sake, not only mine," his voice was saddened, but I failed to hear it out of my own hopes to see my brother.

"Hades, you've taken everything from me! If you aren't going to use me then why can't I go home!" I began crying again, praying to someone that Hades would let me see my brother again. He walked over to me and put a hand on my shoulder, his eyes full of sorrow.

"Let me see my brother! Please Hades!" my head hung between my shoulders, almost ashamed I was reduced to begging him.

"If I take you to see your home, will you promise to trust me?" he asked, carefully brushing the hair out of my face, a compassionate side I never thought existed showing now in a full manner.

"Yes, I will. Please, just let me see my brother," I said quietly. His face seemed pained, but he suddenly pulled his cloak over both of us and teleported us directly into my living room.

Almost gasping with relief I immediately ran up the stairs.

"Seth? Seth! I'm home! Seth! I'm safe!" I called as I ran towards his room.

"Seth! I made it back alright, the bus was just an accident and-,"I trailed off as I opened the door to my brother's room.

There were no lights on, there were no sounds.

There wasn't even the other half of the house.

I felt my heart stop as I looked over the ruins. Only the front of the house still existed, everything from my brother's room to all of our rooms and more were gone.

All charred black and the whole place still smelling like smoke. All of my memories, the things I held dear to me, burned in a fire until they merely existed in a memory instead.

I stumbled forward into Seth's room, feeling the rain fall on my face from the disintegrated roof, and fell straight to my knees as I took in everything that had happened.

Few things were left intact in his room, though you could see nothing of the rest of the house remained. No photos, no clothes, not even the furniture was usable, or even restorable for that matter.

My body shivered from the cold rain seeping into my skin as I sat there, numb to the entire world. Unable to process what I was really looking at, feeling as though everything was a terrible dream. It was a nightmare, just a bad dream that I was trying to wake up from. And when I woke up, everything would be exactly as it should.

_I won't be living in the Underworld, it's all a nightmare! My brother's still alive probably waiting for me to wake up, and I probably dozed off and miss my morning alarm! Seth was too nice to wake me though, he doesn't really mind it when I miss a few days of school. So long as it's only occasionally and not a reoccurring event. _

My brother was alive, all I had to do was wake up. Just thrust myself awake and everything would be restored. I crushed my eyes tightly together, then using all the energy I could muster up, tried to throw myself awake I as usually did when I was having a really awful dream.

But no matter how many times I tried, the charred, roofless structure that once resembled my brothers room, remained the same.

Tears rolled down my face, mixed in with the rain drops as they fell. More and more continued to fall, until I was hunched over, burying my face into what was left into the carpet.

"You had no right to leave me here alone!" I screamed into the carpet, my voice drowned out by the echo of thunder and lightning flashing above. I felt angry that my brother had left me, only causing me to sob harder.

"You were supposed to protect me! And always be there for me!" I shook for air as I cried trying to make coherent sentences still.

"You were never supposed to die on me! Big brothers don't die on their sisters! Especially when they NEED them!"

Heaving for air as I cried, my nails dug as hard as they could into the wood beneath them, trying to make them hurt more than the pain that was suffocating me inside of my chest. The gaping hole inside of me hurt worse than any other pain I'd even had to endure. Physical pain could be a pleasure at this time, breaking a wrist or a small bone would feel incomparable. My damp face, still tight on the carpet, trying to push itself into the fibers of it so I could disappear.

There was nothing I could do to bring him back. He was gone from me, and now I had nothing for me.

"SETHOS!"

**And for the record, yes. Hades DID allow Aislinn to see into him because he obviously knew what Charon was telling her. :P Before I get spammed about it. **

New Chapter Coming this weekend sometime! 3


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**-

My hair hung wetly by my face as I laid on the damp carpet, mere minutes had gone by and yet it felt like hours as I laid there thinking of my now deceased brother. Hot and burning my eyes felt despite the cool temperature of the rain. A shadow fell over me as I stayed unmoving, and in the next instant I felt myself being pulled up into a pair of strong arms. My eyes moved slowly up to his blurred face and for a moment, I thought I saw my brother's face, staring down on me as he held me, but the image disappeared when I blinked and Hades' saddened gaze looked upon me.

The smoke swirled around us once again and we returned to my room. Hades set me down carefully on my bed and exited the room. My ghost maid came in and helped me into dry clothes and fixed my hair so as not to stay in my face. I could care less what I looked like at this time, I wanted nothing more than to be left alone to my grief over my dead brother. She left and Hades came in again, sitting down next to me with something in his hands.

"I wanted you to see this," he said, holding a newspaper from my town in his hands.

"The Wright Manor burned down due to a failed electrical short during the thunderstorm. Firemen say the fire burned for a few hours, but it was under control by and put out by 11 in the morning. Police have said Seth Wright, renowned swimmer champion, perished during the awful mess. However, Aislinn Wright has not been found since the bus accident that happened only hours later. Police are still trying to determine why the short failed and are investigating the designer for the house itself. The owners have not been found at this time, nor are currently aware of this tragedy ," His voice trailed off and he set the paper on the floor.

"I did save you Aislinn, I knew about it, but I didn't cause the fire. I would never have taken him from you," Vaguely, I could feel his hand on my shoulder; But I didn't care. My brother was dead.

There would be no more swimming competitions, no more laughing with him over stupid jokes we'd grown up with together, never returning home to the "family" that was still existing, the one that never noticed me anyway. No more looking at his shaggy black hair and wondering if he'll even cut it, no more brotherly hugs to pick me up whenever I was feeling down.

I had no more tears to cry, only a gaping pain carving itself inside of my chest. I had none left for me anymore. I had no love to my name other than the love I carried for myself. My head ached and all of my limbs were throbbing without moving, I suddenly felt very cold and pulled the covers up tightly around myself. Hades reached his hand over to my forehead, brushing over it lightly.

"You have a fever," he mumbled more to himself than out loud. He stood and walked over to the wardrobe and opened it to pull out a thick, soft looking blanket and placed it on top of the comforter. I shivered again and pulled the blankets more tightly around me.

Hades' hand pass over the night stand and a pitcher of water appeared with a glass. I heard him pouring some and felt the glass at my lips.

"Aislinn, you need to drink something," he said softly, urging me to drink the water. Moaning I turned my head away from the glass, my stomach hurt too much to want to put anything in it.

"I don't want the water, I want my brother back," I groaned.

Hades grabbed my face, holding it still and put the glass at my lips again. I looked at the blurred image of him, the spitting image of my brother.

"Seth," I whispered quietly, before passing out on the pillow beneath my head.

**Hades P.O.V.**-

I sighed and held her face gingerly in my hand, pressing the cup to her lips and slowly pouring the water. She thrashed about and spat out the water she felt was choking her, coughing as she settled back down.

"Aislinn," I sighed more frustrated than before, "You need to drink something, come on, please." He held the glass up and tried again, only to get the same result. She groaned again and shifted restlessly on her bed. Going on a whim, I took drink of the water myself and held the water in my mouth. Then leaning over her, pulled her lips to mine and passed the water into her mouth, holding her there until she swallowed. Relief rushed over me as I had found a way to finally get her to drink, she'd probably kill me for it later, but this would be the second time I've saved her life, perhaps she'll forgive me.

I funneled more water into her and stopped when the pitcher ran dry. She was still uncomfortably warm and restless; time could only pass her fever when a God can do nothing to help a mortal.

I sat next to her the whole night through, wiping her head with a damp cloth and helping her drink water every once in a while. A few times she seemed to come to again, but she was delirious the entire time and continued calling out for her older brother before falling still upon her pillow once more.

I pulled the damp cloth lightly over her forehead, staring at her calm, beautiful face. So much pain to go through in such a short amount of time. It'd only been a week since she first came here really. I traced one finger softly over her face and down her soft cheek, red with illness. Her face leaned towards where I was stroking her face and my name slipped out from her dream,

"Hades."

I leaned over and kissed her forehead softly,

"Sleep Aislinn, you need it now more than ever," I whispered to her softly and she never woke again that night.

**My P.O.V.**-

These dreams and images, what was real and what was fiction was blended together to create the reality I was now facing. I could see my brother, holding his hand out to me and asking me to come with him. But at the same time, Hades was standing opposite him, asking me to be with him instead, to stay with him. Part of me wanted to go with my brother, to be with him forever and never have to face solitude again, that despairing loneliness. The other, wanted to stay with Hades, and to my surprise, love him forever, but my fears in my dream only equaled those outside of it; to never be loved in return.

The dreams lasted for a short time, before leaving me to sleep in peace. Some were nightmares, and others only fantasy. Such that I could clearly remember Hades lips against mine as I slept, but such things only dreams surely are.

One night I remember was much colder than all the others, ice to my skin and bones. Shivering, I pulled the blankets more tightly around me. I opened my eyes and recognized the room, and Hades sitting next to me. He looked tired, as though he hadn't slept in days. He saw me looking around and roused a bit more.

"Feeling any better?" he asked, resting his hand against my head, frowning when he noticed I still have a fever.

"It's cold…colder than before," I half mumbled half said. Hades looked about the room, there was already a fire going and I had all the blankets he had at the time, since he never got sick it wasn't a large issue to have blankets about the palace. He ran his hand over my face.

"Aislinn there aren't any more blankets, you're burning up as it is," he said quietly, brushing a loose strand of hair out of my face.

I continued to shiver and pulled the blankets around me more tightly.

"So…cold..," I mumbled and tried to drift off to sleep. Thinking of what to do Hades pulled all my covers off, though not without a loud protest, and slid in beside me (fully clothed for all you dirty minds). I opened her mouth to protest, then thought better of it and snuggled in close for heat. The heat seeped into me and warmed me up quickly; within a few minutes I was asleep again. Hades' hand was pressed against my forehead once more.

"Your fever can only get better from here," he said quietly and he too, quietly drifted off to sleep.

I woke up to find the fire still roaring in the mantle, and the blankets still piled on, though Hades was nowhere to be seen. My muscles felt a bit shaky, but I certainly didn't feel as ill as I did. I was feeling pretty alright in fact. I slid out of bed and strolled over to the window with a blanket wrapped around me. I saw Hades carrying a soul over the river, taking it to the sorting room. I'd never known Hades could change the sorting times, but it seemed fitting as God of the Underworld.

I sat silently on the windowsill, watching the river flow by in the eerie stillness of the current that made no sense, and sighed heavily as a breeze blew through my hair. There was nothing left for me in the Above world now, I had no purpose there, nor did I have anyone waiting for me to come back. I was left alone in the world, as I had been many times before but only for short periods.

My eyes didn't bring tears, and there was no giant tugging on my heart to leave and go with my brother, but in its place was a dull numbness, immune to emotion.

A few minutes later there was a knock on the door, a knock followed by Hades' entrance.

"Feel better?" he asked walking towards the window. I nodded but didn't look at him and continued staring out into the River of Styx.

"You can't bring him back can you," I said more as a statement than a question, since I already knew the answer. He didn't answer me, confirming what I thought.

I glanced over at him suddenly, and he took a step back when he saw my eyes, now glowing a ferocious, luminous red.

"I'll help you get Olympus."


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11-**

He stood there for a moment, measuring me up with those mystical eyes, and shook his head.

"No, you won't. You say that now, but it's your grief talking Aislinn, you don't really want to help me like that, taking advantage of people as such. You're too good for that," he walked closer and ran a hand down the side of my face, my eyes returning to their whiteness.

"You're exactly what I want as you are, not trying to aid me in my overthrow attempt, as being the stubborn will that doesn't give in, and wants to fight her own battles," he paused again and looked deeply into my eyes, letting me search into his soul, something he was helping me with I presumed.

He suddenly looked as though he'd remembered something and rushed out the door sending a, "Wait here for a moment!" as he left.

In the next second there was a bright flash in my room and a familiar looking God was standing in my room grinning at me, it was Zeus. My eyes grew wide and I dashed for the door, trying to make a scream for someone to hear me. But before I could say anything there was a gag around my mouth and shock bindings around my wrists and ankles. My eyes filled with horror as I saw the same evil grin on Zeus' face that I did Hades' when we were on Olympus. That look of only pure hatred mixed with only pure greed.

"Hello Aislinn, remember me?" he said walking a bit closer, trying to trace a finger over my face when I pulled roughly away from him.

"Hm, not as friendly as I quite remember though," he said walking away snapping his fingers. The bonds sent an electric shock throughout my body, rendering me useless and lying on the floor in pain. What a spot I end up in. Whatever happened to going to school every day? Graduating and doing something more with my life? Spending time making more memories with my brother like I should have been?

I huffed to myself, disappointed that I didn't have the capability of fighting off this attacker.

The door was blasted open in a rather large BAM! And, a very angry Hades' stood where it once was, his hair burning a riotous red, blood worthy even. There was a thick smoke surrounding him, and a few skeletons in armor beside him, his hands were even shaking in fists at his side.

I had never seen Hades so enraged before. He had his tiffs occasionally, blasting the dead when it pleased him, especially when I was feeling extra zealous and willing to challenge all of his orders. But never like this. Never so, blood thirsty looking.

"Let her go Zeus, you don't have the upper hand here, I'd do as asked," Hades warned menacingly.

Zeus' smirk only grew larger.

"I believe I have the upper hand here Hades," he flicked his wrist and raised the bonds holding me, thus raising me off the ground as well.

"It wasn't until recently I discovered how to use her against you and so," he snapped his figures and another shock went blazing through me, forcing me to scream against the gag in pain. I fell limply in the bonds, those weren't ordinary shocks from like an electric fence, there were bolts shocking every muscle that could be touched, all at once inside of me.

Hades' hair flickered blood red again and he stepped forward with his guard.

"Let. Her. Go." He hissed angrily through his teeth. Zeus merely laughed and moved me closer to his side.

"I think it's me who gets to make the demands now," he said and let me fall to the ground at his feet.

"You can't take her out of here Zeus, you should know that by now," Hades answered impatiently.

"Oh, I figured that before I came here. I'm not so naïve Hades to think you wouldn't take decent precautions. But I'm curious as to how she came about now?"

He was walking around the room at a calm, leisurely pace that only seemed to make Hades even more irritated. Zeus traced his fingers over the random objects spread about the table he passed by in silence; only the crackle of Hades' hair and my breathing through the gag breaking the thickness.

"She's obviously about eighteen years of age," he stated obviously,

"So naturally, I'm curious as to how the rest of us never found her before her first birthday? Every god under my command has been ordered to watch for the birth of this child, or any of Sepherous' descendants. Not even a mosquito could have escaped their careful eyes around the world. And yet, she managed to grow up," he was back near me, holding my chin tightly towards him,

"and turned into quite the lovely thing at that." There was a feral sound from Hades' direction, one I hadn't been acquainted with yet. Zeus flicked an evil glare at him before casting my face from his grip.

"Did you have something to do with this?" Zeus said, curious now, slightly less aggressive than before.

"What is it you want?" Hades asked, trying to get to the point.

Zeus paced for a moment and snapped his fingers in a light bulb moment thought, sending another shock through me. Groaning in agony Zeus simply walked around the room again.

"I want the girl, obviously. But since you have this place so spell ridden I don't see that happening very soon. Though that also means you don't intend on leaving, hmmm, I want," he paused and turned to me,

"Her eyes. And her eyes, alone."

Wide with fright I looked to Hades then back to Zeus, then back to Hades over again.

"You have one week to decide Hades, that's it. An, I promise, one way or another I will have them. Should I even need to take them by force if necessary, I shall," he said and disappeared in a flash, taking the bonds around me with him, thus dropping me to the stone ground.

Hades said something quickly to his guard and they all disappeared before he rushed over to me, pulling my shaking form into his lap. I sat there trying to ease my muscles out of the cramps they'd been induced into. He untied the gag that hadn't been removed, and pulled me tightly against his chest.

"Are you alright?" he asked, holding my face, looking over every inch of it. I nodded, still trembling and he pulled me tightly against him again.

"I thought I was going to lose you," he said, so quietly I almost didn't hear him. I let it go for now, he must've have been worried about losing my eyes, as Zeus had been. Since, I'm sure, that was the only reason he was keeping me alive at this point. Probably concocting some new plan as to how to use them against the other gods of Olympus.

"What about my eyes?" I asked, trying to keep my voice steady from the thought of losing my sight entirely.

"He won't get them Aislinn, don't worry. I won't let him get in here again," he said in a solemn promise.

Hades must have been hellbent on his plan to take over Olympus to go through so much trouble to keep my eyes safe. When things had settled down after some time I stood up and went back to lay down, still too troubled by grief to think about anything else right now.

Hades walked over to the platter of food on the table, still untouched.

"Haven't you eaten anything?" he asked without turning around. I mumbled an 'I-am-not-hungry' sort of phrase and sat looking towards the wall in my bed. He picked something up and came over and sat down beside me. He was holding the food on his lap.

"You need to eat something, you haven't eaten in a couple days," he said and held the plate up towards my face. I ignored the food and continued staring at the wall until Hades began pressing the food directly up to my lips.

"Eat, please Aislinn," he said quietly, and tried to force the food into my mouth again.

"I'm not hungry Hades," I said softly, brushing his hand away as he tried again to feed me.

Hades made a sudden noise, one I wasn't familiar with and I realized he was growling. I turned to look at him, baffled by it, when he suddenly pulled my face to his and held his lips to mine, passing a piece of fruit into my mouth. Startled by the move, I struggled against him trying to break free, but his grasp didn't let up in the slightest. I had no choice but to chew and swallow the food, and only then did he pull away finally. I glared at him, but I could feel the blush creeping up on my cheeks as I realized he had kissed me indirectly.

"Either eat, or I'll force feed you until all this food is gone, and believe me, it gets more challenging with the meat," he said with almost a sinister glint to his voice. He reached forward to do it again, but I beat him to the punch and grabbed a piece of food eating it quickly.

I wasn't allowed to be left alone, until I had finished the entire platter. Hades took his leave and went to finish out some of his regular duties. I could feel my loneliness creeping up on me again. Quickly getting dressed while I still had the motivation, I decided I could wander the palace for a little while.

I hadn't really wandered the halls of the palace before, but I did remember where Cerberus was, and which halls to avoid seeing him. But before I could get one step out into the hallway Hades was standing in front of me, again.

"I thought you had work to do?" I huffed, wishing I could be doing something active to get my mind off of Seth, and just let me be alone for some time.

"I did. Then I noticed you were up and about," he answered, leaning against the wall outside my room. I raised an eyebrow curious as to what that had to do with anything.

"Am I not allowed to wander around for a little while?" I asked, hoping I wasn't going to be cramped inside my bedroom all day. Hades stood up and beckoned me to follow him as he started walking.

"Well, you can. I'd just rather I was with you so we don't have a repeat of the same incident that happened last time you went off on your own," he said half-jokingly.

Not sure of how to react to his joke I followed him around as he proceeded to complete the rest of his regularities. There were thousands of questions running through my mind, ones that would just keep nagging me until I finally found an answer for them before they decided to drive me insane.

"Hades," I said quietly after some time of watching him "work". The questions were too many, and I felt it was my right to have some of them answered, especially after considering the day's earlier events.

"Yes Aislinn?" he answered. I hesitated and he noticed rather quickly.

"You knew I existed…and if you had time to plan everything out, why didn't the other Gods find out about me? I mean," I wasn't sure what I was asking now, part of me really didn't want to hear the truth.

"Why didn't you kidnap me earlier? Why didn't any of the other Gods try to before you showed up? Why are you coming after me now if you knew about me for so long? Is Zeus really going to come back and take me away? How long will I be stuck here? Will I ever get to personally meet any of the other Greek Gods? Why are we wandering around the sorting room even though you don't seem to be doing anything? Why are you so fond of Cerberus? Why aren't you answering me?"

All of the questions hung in the air, as I rambled on a few more, pacing back and forth like a hysterical hyena. Hades merely watched me with an amused stance for a few seconds more as I continued on and on with every thought that could pass through my head the instant it showed up.

I took a deep breath after a minute or so, and relaxed, facing him directly. I knew what question I really wanted answered, more so than the others. A tremor of nervousness ran up my spine as I tried to find a way of wording it more appropriately. You know when you get that feeling of desperately needing to know something, and though it's threatening to roll off the tip of your tongue the next time you speak, you almost can't bring yourself to really ask it? Same as now.

He looked at me with a quizzical brow, waiting patiently.

I breathed, focused, and gathering up some courage, said what I wanted.

"Why has no one else found me before now?"

The question hung in the air without any sign of being answered. Hades could have either been pondering it, or ignoring it entirely. He was as rigid as a statue at the moment, any emotion on him at this point would have been nice to see. There was, finally, a large sigh from him, and he looked very reluctant to answer it.

"I think Aislinn, you should stop asking so many questions," he replied, and effectively ended the conversation at that.

I felt hurt he wouldn't answer it. There was a suspicion in me that he was definitely hiding something from me though, and I desperately wanted to know what it was now. Neither of us spoke for a while. However, with the time we usually spent together, talking was an uncommon occurrence anyway. Each of us had rather grown quite fond of the peaceful silence that allowed us to ponder things in silence, and only speak when necessary. It was, almost, an unspoken trust agreement.

"We're going to be having a visitor very soon Aislinn," he said suddenly, and turned to me with his stallion black eyes, raging full of heated emotions. I raised an eyebrow curiously and waited for him to continue speaking.

"And honestly, I'm not quite sure how much she'll enjoy you being around the Underworld. Aislinn, I'm not sure if you noticed, but it is the time of the year when Persephone comes here. In the past, I've only belonged to her, and since I've lived here alone for so long, except when Demeter comes with her, I am not entirely persuaded to believe that she intends on taking this lightly," he began walking us back to the throne room, and when I was sitting on the step beneath his throne he continued.

"She has a tendency to be very…protective of everything she feels belongs to her," he said at last. Glancing at me with a look to see if I could read between his words enough to know that he meant Persephone most likely wouldn't take too kindly to me living in the palace, or even being around him for that matter, while she was here.

"So what am I to do exactly?" I asked, wondering, since I didn't do much of anything around here anyway. He didn't give much of a reply, but the attitude around him suddenly became extremely cold, like when he was feeling like an absolute sadist.

"You'll be exactly what I said, my personal servant. She won't have objections to that, hopefully," he said without an exactly reassuring tone.

I gulped rather deeply, and felt my limbs stiffen at the thought. This wasn't going to be a pleasant visit.


	12. Chapter 12 EDITED

**A/N: Sooooo sorry I'm updating so late everyone! . I feel really bad, believe me. Anyway, this is a repost of Chapter 12, it has been edited and new information has occurred! :D I felt bad when someone mentioned I hadn't described Persephone, and I felt so stupid for missing such a big piece! Anyway, wanted to let you all know there's only a few more chapters until the end~! And then something amazing happens! Pleaseeeee read and review! I see how many people are reading my stories, and really guys? I don't care if it's anonymous. I really want some feed back on what you all are thinking! I've hardly had any reviews, and thank you so much to those of you that have! Enjoy the story! :)**

Unpleasant was a dramatic understatement for a description for the arrival of Persephone alone. I knew rudeness; I knew forced politeness, and even directly being talked down to. But Persephone was on an entirely different scale! Out of all the books I had read the claimed Persephone to be this soft, sweet, tender, humble creature, what a load of blasphemy! Even though I'd been told to brace myself for something I had never encountered, something from a different world entirely, she was the last thing I could have ever imagined.

Here's a summary of the arrival:

_To my surprise, Hades had only warned me of Persephone's visit a few days before she was due to arrive. He immediately called his head maid servant and explained to her in a rushed manner what I duties I was to perform from now, and that she should show me where my new room was, for the time being. _

_The maid had a very sad look upon her face, but when barked at by Hades to get moving, she beckoned me to follow her. I went forward and did so, rather regretful at the thought of having to leave Hades now, I was just beginning to get used to him. He'd been much more relaxed the past day or so, and his menacing nature was much more subdued, or so I had thought. _

_The maid led me down a number of hallways again, and we ended up in a place I wasn't entirely familiar with. There were many more lower servants and maids down here, rushing to and fro, everyone preparing for the anticipated arrival. We passed down a few more corridors and came to a small hallway that I believed was close-ish to my original quarters, which, I had now been informed, were to be for Persephone's stay. _

"_Here you are miss," the lady said politely and opened the small wooden door with a creak. She floated in and began lightly tiding the mess that had been left behind. _

"_It's not much really, but it'll be someplace to stay while we have another guest with us. The palace doesn't have many bedrooms, as you can imagine, we rarely receive visitors here. Though I am a bit surprised," she said and turned to look at me with her ghostly image fluttering in the stillness of the room. _

"_usually Persephone is bid to stay in his majesty's quarters, this'll be first to have them in separate rooms," she said with a surprised tone and went back to straightening up some. I remained silent, watching and wondering what to do now. _

"_Well, come here," she said softly, friendly I would even say. She opened the tall doors to the closet and I was showed a vast array of gowns. _

_Gowns? I thought to myself oddly. I thought servants were supposed to wear maid's clothing?_

"_He wants you to wear these here, and he gave me a quick rundown on all the chores you'll be needing to perform from now," she paused and glanced towards me as a small paper appeared in her hand, a list inscribed on it, _

"_I trust you know how to work?" _

_I nodded quickly and waited for her to continue. _

"_Well, from the length of this, you'll need to be up by around 5 am each morning, and since we're all dead, you're food will be provided for you in here. First off, he wants you to feed Cerberus in the morning, not too hard of a task once you get the hang of it," she winked. _

_Oh, that's reassuring, I thought to myself. _

"_Then, he wants you to go and scrape the excess bone marrow off the rocks on the front entrance of the palace, quite a grueling task if you ask me. Anyway, by the time you're finished with that the master and miss should be awake, you shall join them in the throne room as you hear their voices," confused I looked at her. _

"_Oh, just stand by the entrance until you hear them in there, it's not too hard. Continuing, he says here that if he doesn't have any special tasks for you to do, that you shall go and straighten up Persephone's room (bed, curtains, fire, etc.). You can eat afterwards, and once you're finished with lunch, he wants, tomorrow, for you to start washing the throne room floors. I do believe that will be the sum of your day tomorrow, and if you finish before dinner, you're to remain by his majesty's side and do as he bids. And Aislinn, should you need any help whatsoever, don't hesitate to call me," she finished and smiled at me. _

"_Just say Gerda and I'll come help!" With that she put the list down on the table for me, it suddenly turned into solid paper from a ghostly mirage. _

"_Well, I'll just let you get settled then, see you bright and early tomorrow Miss Aislinn," and she left closing the door with a soft thud. _

_I sighed and sat down on the bed, my appetite nonexistent now. I had thought things we're going so well between us recently, and wondered if I had done something to offend him. I literally had been reduced to the role of a servant, Hades was fulfilling his own word. The quarters were…rather bare and bleak, still clean and tidy after Gerda had cleaned up though. Idly, I wondered if Hades was really as alone as I had portrayed him to be in my paper, or if he was just teasing me and pretending to be so just so he could play with my feelings, which after reading that paper, couldn't have been any secret to him. _

_Oh well, I thought, At least Persephone is supposed to be sweet, she may be very pleasant to talk to after all! And maybe I'll understand more about Hades. Considering our guest's arrival was in less than half an hour I called for Gerda again and asked what she wanted me to do. _

"_Oh!" she exclaimed and opened the dresser, picking out a rather…overly flattering gown. _

"_His majesty bids you wear this and meet him out in the throne room immediately, I'm sorry I almost forgot," she said and disappeared in an instant. _

_I smiled to myself at her politeness and changed into the form-fitting blue gown, pulling my hair up out of my face with a hair tie I happened to still have somehow. As I exited my room, I found I was hardly twenty feet away from Hades' own bedroom, and then knew it wouldn't be difficult at all to maneuver around the palace to perform my chores from this place. _

_I walked, not too far, into the throne room and found Hades in his Above clothes, rather than his "god" clothes. _

_Damn, I thought as I looked at him, no wonder so many girls fell for him. With an attitude like that, it's no shock at all to know how girls fawn over him. _

_I cleared my throat as I entered, watching him carefully. With me being at such a lower position now, I wasn't sure how I was supposed to be acting, or what was expected of me. _

"_Ah, there you are. Good, you look fine. Now, as I'm entirely sure you're not accustomed to being the servant let me explain in brief," his face came direly close to mine, his breath tickling my face, _

"_You are to do exactly as I say, when I say it," he stood up suddenly and began strutting around with his pride again. _

"_And you can forget that plaintive little list I had set up for you originally. I have much better things in mind instead. Anyway, for now, all you need to know is that you are to stay exactly by my side unless directed otherwise. Understood?" _

_I nodded and remained silent._

"_Aislinn," he came up close again, "It's merely a formality. If I were to let you wander as you normally do, Persephone would think that we were…romantically involved. And I daresay, that would put a much higher threat on your life than Zeus."_

_Before he could continue there was a loud trumpet blaring throughout the palace, announcing our guest's unexpectedly early arrival. _

"_Here we go," Hades mumbled under his breath and walked out with a long stride, as I followed close behind. _

"_But I thought she wasn't supposed to arrive her until tomorrow?" I asked confused. Hades didn't even give me glance backwards as he rushed towards the entrance to the River of Styx._

"_As. Did. I." His words came out slow and deliberate, hiding his anger far beneath them. _

_Charon was just pulling up the docks, and didn't even have the boat tied off securely before Persephone, in a flash of light was hugging Hades tightly, almost like a child would to its father. _

"_Hades! It's been so long since I saw you!" she cried loudly and she then gave a child's pout on her face. _

_Mouth dry and eyes wide I had to remind myself how to breathe. I could see the figure in front of me. _

_Her hair was the finest gold spun from the finest fleece in the universe. Every move her body made and her hair just seemed to sweep around her in an elegant motion, almost as though in constant motion; similar to Hades'. Her body was obviously that of a goddess, perfectly shaped as all the others had been and her skin the heavenly tone we all dream of. She had her long arms wrapped around Hades and was running a hand through the back of his hair. The only probably with the scene, for first impressions, was the excessive colors of bright sunshine yellow and pink. Every article of luggage she had was pink and matching. Her dress was one shouldered and a bright yellow with flowers on it; rather girly for my taste. Her face seemed as innocent as a child's, soft and sweet yet a hint of overly-animated expressions. It made sense why she was named Goddess of Spring; very colorful. _

"_Mother can be such an awful bore at times, and with the way she rambles on about you and your behaviors, it's almost a miracle to be able to escape her and come see you," she said and before I could blink kissed him deeply. _

_My heart stopped for a moment as I watched. A sudden unknown anger then began coursing through my veins as she continued to lavish him with her lips. I bit my lip harshly to keep from saying anything, and caught her moving, trying, as I believed, to force me to see more of what she was doing to him. _

_I looked away, hoping I wouldn't see him returning the favor. They broke apart before she noticed me staring and yelled rather suddenly, _

"_GERDA! Come here and get my bags! They'll simply waste away out here on this dreary lake!" She appeared and beckoned me to help her, and as Hades did nothing to negate that I should, I quickly ran to her aid. _

_As I looked at them while we unloaded the luggage, Persephone was still clinging possessively to his arm, and staring at him as though nothing else in the world mattered to her. He turned away to walk back up towards the throne room, probably to catch up on times. _

"_I'll be just a second darling!~" she cooed after him and came back as though to get something from her bags. _

"_Why Gerda! You stupid maid, you're supposed to make sure the bags on are level ground! And hurry up, some of these precious items are perishable, and I simply know they shall perish sooner if they are to remain by this dead river!" She huffed and finally noticed me. _

"_Oh, my goodness what have we here?" she said curiously, and came closer to me, grabbing my chin roughly to examine my face. _

"_You're quit the pretty little thing you know, and to think, you still have a pulse. HA! What does a human like you stand a chance?" she scorned and in pushing my face aside suddenly threw me full force into the crags near the docks. _

_The wind rushed right out of my lungs as I struggled to breathe, she scowled at me and hissed vehemently, _

"_Don't you dare go near him, or you'll pay in blood." She turned to walk up the jagged steps to the palace with a light dainty grace and manage to push over Gerda, who was carrying much of her luggage, thus sending all the bags flying down the stairs again. _

"_Gerda you fool! Enough! Come help me with my personals in my room! That other dreary human can attend to the bags," she barked after all the luggage was at the bottom. _

_Charon came over to help me up when they were out of sight._

"_Are you alright miss Aislinn? I know Persephone can be quite the beast when she wants to," he pulled me to my feet as I still struggled to regain my wind. I hadn't had a blow like that in a long time, and it certainly wouldn't go without bruises. _

_I had read of the Gods' unnatural strength, though that was my first time ever witnessing it in action. She had hardly flicked my head aside when it felt like I'd been rammed by a car into the rocks. _

"_Best get the rest of the luggage miss," Charon said quietly and we continued seeming endless task. In doing so, my thoughts of her dramatically decreased, and I was already gritting my teeth against her. She wasn't going to break me. Not here. Reaching the top step with the last suitcase, my eyes tightened as I pictured the rest of the visit. _

_I was weary by the time we had moved all the bags to my old room, but I made sure not to give a hint of that. Everything in my being screamed to show this woman that she wasn't going to scare me away, nor was I going to fail at any task that she gave to me. _

_Persephone was sitting on the bed running a sun-kissed wheat colour of a brush through her hair. _

"_Maid girl," she called to me as I was leaving. I huffed but knew I was to answer her, since no one had told me otherwise at this point._

"_Yes Miss?"_

"_Would you bring me that large black trunk?" she said with a whine, "I'm afraid I'm much too tired after the journey here to move it myself."_

_There was a massive eye roll in my mind as I heard her request; Gods didn't tire. I sighed and lifted the extremely overweight trunk shuffling towards her, as I couldn't really see where she was at this point. Before she told me to set it down, my feet we're suddenly kicked out from under me and the corner of the trunk landed on my still sore arm. _

_I grit my teeth as the pain stung, refusing to show that she'd wounded me in some way. _

"_Are you alright maid girl? Get up and bring me my trunk unless you're too weak and I need send for another servant," she said impatiently. I forced myself up and set the trunk where she had bid me to. _

"_I need some softer clothes for my stay here, I hadn't planned on it being so warm, it's much warmer than usual," she said and ran her fingers over the fabric I was wearing._

"_This might do, where's the rest of your wardrobe?" _

_Deciding it was necessary to lie at this point, I told her that this was the only gown I had been provided with. _

_Before she could ask for anything else, Gerda appeared saying that his majesty had summoned me to his room. I told her I would be there presently and took my leave. Just as I reached the door, my arm was suddenly pinned tightly against my back, stinging my wrist to the point I thought it would break. _

"_And if you dare complain of anything to Hades, I'll make you regret it more than you know," she said, her words dripping with venom. For good measure as I tried to run out of the room, she quickly slapped me upside the face and sent me sprawling into the hallway. _

_Her door shut with a loud slam, leaving me to rub my poor face. I managed to gather myself into an order that wouldn't be suspecting to Hades. I didn't want to test the limits of her threat, not with what she was capable of. _

_I knocked softly and was answered a come in and asked to close the door behind me. _

"_You needed something?" I asked feeling things were a little less formal than they had been in public. _

_He gave me a raised eyebrow, but said nothing to the attitude with which I asked him. _

"_Didn't take too kindly to her I take it," he said observingly, not questioning. I crossed my arms in a tuff. _

"_She's insufferable!" I spouted._

"_Aislinn-," he tried to interject. _

"_She's a spoiled little ninny, who acts like a child!" I fumed. _

_He stood up and called me again, but I ignored him. _

"_She's rude!"_

"_Aislinn!"_

"_And daft!"_

"_AISLINN!"_

"_And above all-!" _

"_Enough!" he barked loud enough to make the room shake , or so it felt. My nails dug deeply into my wrists. _

_He was angry at how I was speaking about her, and ordered me to leave and return to my quarters. _

"_You will do exactly as she bids until your attitude changes," he said firmly, unknowing the fate he had just damned the rest of me to._

_I left the room in a storm and just as I shut the door to my room, grabbed the first piece of furniture near me, a chair, and hurled it into the wall, watching the splinters in small delight. Ignoring the food on the table, I crawled on the bed, pulling my knees up to my chest. _

_Hades wasn't going to listen to me, and Persephone was just going to continue abusing me and the servants until he found out, but should he, and I'll really be destroyed. _

And that was how my first impression of Persephone came about. As I now laid in an angry stupor with a few tears escaping my cheeks, I began to see how I was either going to have to adapt to my situation or bear it worse than it would be if I didn't.

_Oh, I'll show her, _I thought to myself, _If Persephone thinks that she can really break me down; I'd like to see her give it her best shot._

_**A/N: Interesting eh? **  
><em>

_**I finally have an answer for all of you that have messaged me about her eyes. I really couldn't describe it until I was watching The Fellowship of the Ring recently. Anyway, if you pause the movie at 1 hr. 8 min. ish, it's after Frodo has been stabbed and is suffering from the poison. When he sees Arwen in the halo light? His eyes? Thats as close as I can get to describing them. :3 They look really beautiful to me. 3**_


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Tadaaa!~ More story loveliness! Now that I'm graduated and it's summer, I have a little over a month before i have to head out to college and get situated before I do some serious writing. Alas, this story is coming to an end as well. It's only fair that I give you an honest warning in advance. I suspect only two or maybe three more chapters. Probably not anymore than that. **

**OH! I wanted to give a shout out to my roommate, who happens to be a fanfiction author too! Her name's Srya Evermist! And I highly recommend going and reading her work too! Especially to all of you FMA fans!**

**Okay people, let's read! THEN REVIEW!**

**3**

**Chapter 13**

The following morning I got up and walked straight to the throne room, as Hades had instructed in a note left on the table with a delightful post-script about if I didn't finish my food before I came he would be forced to repeat the last form of feeding me.

Belly full, and in a slightly better mood than yesterday, I walked into the throne room to an unexpected sight. Persephone was by herself, and Hades nowhere to be seen.

Confused I turned to leave when Persephone called me to her.

"He was called away on some rather urgent business in the sorting room. Told me to have you follow me around for the day, and deary," she came forward pinching my cheek roughly,

"I couldn't think of anything better."

She started by having me scrub down her entire room while she bathed, and then wash her thoroughly so as her skin were to gleam by the time Hades would return. My knees hurt from the stone they'd been laying on as I was scrubbing, but I rose when she called me to wash her.

Persephone was obviously a god, her body was entirely flawless.

"Come wash my back for me? I can't reach it properly," she complained. I remained silent as I scrubbed, but when she shrieked suddenly I feared I had caused a scratch of some sort.

"What is it?" I asked in alarm.

"You're rubbing too fast! You're going to miss certain spots on my skin, and then it won't be as beautiful as it usually is!" she screamed and smacked my hand away.

"I'll do it myself!" she yelled and ordered me to continue scrubbing the rest of her room, which was spotless to begin with.

She then had me sort through the rest of her trunks and put away the rest of her clothes, though if I handled one too roughly I was rebuked with a sharp cuff over the ear, the first of which literally sent me flying into the stone walls. She would merely laugh, heal the wound so it wasn't visible, make some snide remark about how pitiful it was to have a live human living here in the Underworld with a great god like Hades, and have me continue.

Lunch passed uneaten, and because I had missed a few meals recently, my hurt was growling with a feral beast in it.

"Would you please refrain from making that god-awful sound, Apollo would weep at its call," she said with a groan and though it was involuntary, she gave me a hard jab in the stomach to stop. My stomach didn't make a single noise the rest of the day.

By the time I could tell it was night, Hades finally had returned while we were in the throne room. Persephone had just finished the blow of the day across my back before his arrival, succinct enough he never would have noticed it. I made sure I answered every question politely, and kept a stiff upper lip to the pain in the rest of my body at his arrival as to not arouse suspicion in my direction.

Hades eyed me curiously as I remained entirely silent during their exchange of words. He bid her goodnight but didn't follow her off to her room, as I learned he had used to do before I came.

I began the steady walk to my room to rest and finally eat something, regardless of how cold it was by now.

"Aislinn," he said softly, and I managed to keep my composure as I turned around to face him, saying nothing.

He eyed the room carefully, "This room was scrubbed while I was away." He stated.

"And?"

His eyebrows furrowed and he stepped closer.

"You're hiding something from me," he said softly and tried to step a bit closer, but I backed away in the event Persephone was spying.

"I'm not hiding anything, your majesty," I managed to spit the last two words out with some hint of cordiality.

For once, he didn't press me about the subject, but watched with careful eyes as I couldn't hide the limp for the last two steps out of his sight. The moment I reached my chambers, I fell onto my bed, and didn't awake until Gerda was shaking me in the morning.

Each day, whenever Hades wasn't around, Persephone made it a habit to abuse me as much as she could. Most of her hits were covered with my clothes, though how many more I could hide until he would notice, I wasn't sure. For three days the treatment continued, and more than abuse. She would complain at the drop of a hairpin. Her food was never proper to her standards, the place was never clean enough, the servants were never capable enough, and she always was hanging on Hades when he was around.

Touching him, or kissing him. There was never one part of her that wasn't attached to him when he was around. She was always clinging. I'd had enough one day after she'd eaten dinner in chambers and stood, with my arms, crossed behind her. She was rambling on and on about Hades and how tender and caring he was to her and only her.

"He's so..amazing," she cooed with a sigh. I made a gagging noise behind her.

"What was that for?" she bellowed instantly, but no, I was holding my ground this time.

"You hang on him all the time! It's a wonder he doesn't get tired of the weight you add to him!"

She looked at me with disgust, getting up and pacing in front of me. Probably trying to decide which blow would be fatal enough to look like an accident.

"You don't know anything about him!" she yelled finally, stepping closer to me as if to intimidate me.

"I don't do I?" I bellowed right back, willing to get in her face and fight if that's the way she wanted it.

"NO! I've had more cherished memories with him than anyone else in existence could!"

I scoffed at her mockingly.

"You're nothing but a strumpet!"

"You're nothing but a human!" she screeched, her body tense as if it were about to pounce like a cat on a mouse.

"AND YOU'RE DAFT!" I yelled back at her, feeling the anger against her well up inside of me.

"AT LEAST HE LOVES ME!" she added, and I dropped my shaking fist with surprise. A cruel smile played over her lips as she measured my reaction.

"That's right, he's made love to me thousands of times over. He's never loved anyone but me!" she was walking in circles around me, a vulture deciding on when it would be ripe to devour her prey.

There were mysterious tears welling up in my eyes then, but I couldn't figure why. I knew Hades hadn't brought me here because he loved me. He told me himself he was only planning on using me anyway, the beginning was merely a lie. But alas, a few escapees traced down my cheek, and I lowered my head in defeat.

She stepped forward and hit me once more across the face, only my face moving to the side.

"You'd better remember, you're only his servant."

My head ached as I finally had the opportunity to return to my chambers. I picked lightly at my food, my stomach too full of confusing emotions to really ear anything. Body aching, bruises throbbing, and face stinging still, I wanted nothing more than to curl up in bed and sleep the rest of my life.

There was another tear down my face as I thought more. I knew Hades hadn't loved me from the beginning, it was all a ruse. But the more love came to mind, the more I realized I had none of it in the world for me any longer. My parents, as far as I knew, still had received no word of our mansion burning, or the loss of their children's lives. Seth was taken from me forever.

I gripped my head tightly as more tears began running down my face. I had written that paper about Hades, and I knew why I had written it. I wanted to love something that I knew needed it, the same way I needed someone to love me because I needed it. Tears flowed freely now as I felt a small sob start escaping my lips.

I wanted to be loved by someone. I needed to know that I was still cared about as a human being to someone in the world. And inside, even after I had learned of Hades' plan to use me, I still was willing to try because I wanted to see if he could love me somehow, if he could care about me more than his tool to achieve his plan.

I pulled the pillow tightly into my face as I cried. I missed my home, I missed my teachers, I missed my brother, my neighbors, my books, my dreams. Everything was taken away from me simply because of my eyes, what more did I really have? Persephone was right, as all Greek myths, Hades only loved her. He would dote on her constantly, and nothing, no one, would ever change that for him. I curled into a ball as I thought how stupid I must have been for really believing that he was ever going to care for me. The past few days before Persephone had arrived had put a spark of hope into me that maybe Hades could care for me more, but I knew it was all a loss now.

Nothing else mattered any more.

What purpose was there to keep on surviving? I was kept a prisoner in the Underworld, I had lost everything that meant something to me in the Above. Persephone was more abusive than anything I had ever been through, which honestly wasn't much. I had no one to care or concern themselves for me anymore.

What was the point?

I didn't remember passing out asleep.

"Aislinn," Gerda's voice interrupted as I felt my head had just barely reached my pillow.

"What is it?" I asked quietly, hoping the palace was burning.

"Hades wishes to see you in his chambers, immediately." And she disappeared without a further word.

"Damn you," I huffed and managed to pull myself up to limp down the hallway into his chambers, recovering a sense of composure before he could see me in pain. I worried my eyes were still red and puffy, and figured there'd be no use hiding that I was crying.

"What is it?" I snapped as I shut the door behind me, turning and coming face to face with Hades, his eyes narrowed and dark. My own eyes grew wider, and I felt a small tremor of fear run through me his gaze was so intense.

He didn't say anything, but merely took my hand by the wrist gingerly, and pulled me quickly into the center of his room, I tried to mask the limp as best as possible with the fast speed, but gave it away with a whimper as he gently moved me aside to reach for something on his bed. He paused when he heard the sound. My eyes were warm and stinging as I felt a tear try to gather behind each of them.

I kept my head bent low, I didn't want Persephone to find this out above anything else, for fear of what she'd do when she did learn. I felt my arms go limp, I was tired from the day without any food but breakfast, the beatings, really didn't want to keep secrets from Hades. It was a disappointment to me. I wanted to show Hades that I was strong enough to bear the grunt of Persephone's sadism, despite her…enhanced abilities. I wanted to prove to Hades that there are things I can really do, but I failed in the long run anyway.

He reached for the hem of the dress I had and carefully lifted it off, leaving me in the undershirt.

Deathly silent. Breathing was barely audible.

Sound seemed to stop entirely as though I'd lost my hearing altogether. He looked me around carefully, seeing the redness in places more recent and the bruises from earlier that were a deep purple now, some blue in spots. He would press lightly into certain spots on my skin, testing to see how much it hurt, and each touch rewarded a smart yelp or whimper.

He finished a few minutes later and led me over to a seat, food suddenly provided in front of me. Apparently, before he would speak, food was to be ingested. I reached forward, ravenous for it, and swallowed until my tummy rumbled contently.

Hades gently picked me up, and set me onto his deep blue bed, just as large as my other bed was in Persephone's room. My joints ached even as he lay me down, everything protesting movement in my body.

"Persephone did this, didn't she?" he asked quietly. My eyes shot open and I struggled to try and come up with excuses.

"No! She would never! I-…I fell down the stair in the front, and landed on the crags earlier! That's all…and I fumbled with a suitcase be accident and…er…," my voice was trailing off as he could obviously see straight through my futile attempts at stories.

"…she did…," I finally whispered out, tensing as though Persephone could hear me as was going to burst through the door at any minute, guns blazing. Hades, sensing my apprehension, gave me a reassuring look that she couldn't if she tried.

"Why didn't you tell me about this?" he asked.

"I…didn't think it was my place to say anything. And Persephone threatened to do worse if you found out about it from me. Besides, I didn't see how my concerns fell to your lot of concern suddenly," I part mumbled and part explained.

The silence again.

"You've been crying," he said softly, brushing his fingers lightly over my face, but I flinched back away from his touch.

The tears were threatening to erupt over again. I swallowed hard a few times and breathed deeply to keep my last pieces of strength together.

"Because," I finally started, the tears choking me in the throat.

"Because…I have nothing left for me anymore!" The faucets were released again.

"I've lost my only family I truly cared for, and who happened to be the only person that cared about me in return. My home was burned and my parents don't even know I'm dead, and could probably care less when they hear of it anyway! I was taken away by you because you wanted to use me in some grand scheme to take over Olympus! I'm put in a place where I don't know and can't understand entirely! I'm forced to become a servant when Persephone shows up to supposedly save my life," the last words came out mockingly, but I continued,

"I don't have anyone anymore who loves me in the slightest! Who worries about me, or cares about my well-being!" my voice was sobbing, and I vaguely wondered if he could even understand me anymore.

"Persephone's abused the hell out of me, and I don't know how to take it or deal with it, and…" my voice trailed off for the last part.

"…I see no reason that she would lie when she said you only loved her…and could only love her…" My heart lurched as the words left my mouth, wishing the throbbing ache inside me would subdue itself.

He remained silent, but his hair was flickering violently between purple and blood red again. He was fuming over something. Surely not me though, why should he be so concerned over my issues? He's the one who brought me here as his servant to begin with.

"Why are you so upset Hades?" I asked, my sobs beginning to quiet some, though I kept breathing rather harshly.

He stopped at stared at me as though I were the daft one.

"Aislinn, do you see how she's been abusing you? And she's obviously frightened you to the point where you won't even tell me what she's doing to you! Aislinn, when I made you my personal servant, it wasn't to indulge the whims of others, it was to remain by my side and have a title so Persephone wouldn't worry about you. Aislinn, I deliberately tried to take measures for you to not be the target of her stresses, and it seems she did so rather anyway. I'm terribly sorry," he said, his hair still flickering through the colors.

I felt…in shock.

"But, why go through so many precautions for me? It doesn't seem my eyes are in danger to her, so why worry so much?" I asked, still confused. He looked at me with the same daft expression as he did before.

"Aislinn, are you dense?" he said so suddenly, I felt offended.

"What are you talking about? You're the one pacing around here in a huff about Persephone's actions to me why does it matter? I'm only supposed to be a useful tool for your plan!"

Hades walked so close, it was rather intimate to my space and I tried to back away carefully, but his arms gently held me in place.

"Aislinn, how can you be so thick?" I just continued to stare dumbfounded at him. He sighed and hugged me tightly against him, his skin warm and comforting against mine.

"I've really not been clear with my feelings…," He said softly, gently stroking my hair back and easing my eyes up to his.

"Aislinn, I love you."


	14. Chapter 14

***Super awesome halo of light* Laaaaaa~~! Who missed my story? :3 OH! I think I forgot to mention this in, but maybe not. I edited chapter 12 again, with some much needed details, so if you haven't already read the new version, please take the time to go back and read it again? I'd really appreciate it! **

**Anyway, the story ends in two more chapters, I'm very sad to see it end. HOWEVER! You're all in luck for a surprise that I shall tell you later on in Chapter 16! ...and because I can no longer stand the suspense of seeing your reviews (which I'm in dire need of more please people, I don't care if you don't have critque, I need encouragement to keep going!) after I end it to see how you like it I'm publishing the rest of the story today! YAY! I hope you all love me xD**

**Special thanks to Victorie Evans for the amazing compliments!~~ 3333 **

**And of course to all of you that have reviewed as well! I love you all very much!**

**Okay, okay, I'll shut up now. 3 Enjoy!~**

**Chapter 14**

My brain took a few seconds to understand the words he had said to me. My breath was caught in my throat and my voice was hoarse as I tried to speak.

"You what?"

"I love you," he repeated again, more softly than before, but with just as much sincerity as the first time he had said it. My heart skipped a beat as I heard the words repeated, but there was a tug inside of me, pulling me to defend myself and remember who I was talking to.

I stepped backwards, trying to keep from crying as I shook my head.

"No…you're lying, you're just lying to me again," my breathing became shuddered as I could feel the tears welling up.

"You used me before, and you're willing to toy with me now to get what you want, I know it, I know it," I barely whispered the last words as he stepped up to me and held my face delicately in his hands, before placing one tender, sweet kiss on my trembling lips. I could feel the tears tracing down my face as he held his lips against mine.

"You'll just end up using me," I whispered to him. He continued to kiss me, coercing me into submission.

"I'm not going to use you Aislinn, I promise I won't," he said and kissed me again, wrapping one arm around me to keep me from falling at this point.

"You sinner," I whispered against his all too persuasive kiss.

"Give me my sin again," he said and kissed me once more.

He finally let loose some, only to tighten his grip suddenly as there was a knock at the door. Hades' flame was coursing a hue I had never seen before. It was a deep scarlet red with black mixed in it. There was no answer to the knock, so the person allowed themselves in.

I tried to step away from Hades, knowing it was Persephone, but he held on tightly, refusing to let me leave his grasp. I trembled slightly as I saw her enter, and Hades' arm tightened even more, hurting only a little without realizing it.

"Hades?" Persephone asked with a sad realization.

"Why are you holding onto her Hades? Why am I not the one in your arms instead?" she asked, her lip quivering and her eyes large. He neither replied nor made any sort of movement.

"Hades? Why won't you answer me?" She almost wailed by now, every though she hadn't entered the room more than twenty seconds ago. There was a feral snarl released somewhere inside of her and she made such a leap towards us, I couldn't even see it, it happened so fast! Hades did, however, and swiftly pulled me out of the way of her lunge.

"Why her? What's so damn special about her? You used to think only of me! You used to live for the times I would be allowed to come and stay here with you! You told me I was your only comfort, I was your only love! You did nothing but lie to me!" she began yelling hysterically. I wanted to cover my ears so was whining so incessantly. There were some horrendous things in life that are capable of being suffered through, Persephone whining was not one of them.

"She's nothing but a human! I'm a Goddess! A beautiful one at that! How can you not love me!" she screeched.

Before my heart took another beat, I found Hades had been knocked to the floor suddenly and was getting up towards me, a cold hand around my throat. Her nails were scraping across the tender skin around my windpipe. A ninny like her? How is it possible I couldn't stand up against her! She values nothing but the care of herself, and yet I'm stuck in her decision of whether I live or die.

Persephone tightened her grip as he came closer and when he was about five feet away, I couldn't breathe any more. Panting, gasping for air, I tried to flail about and harm her in some way. Though it was all pointless, she was incomparably stronger than I. My head began spinning and getting dizzy as I watched Hades lunge towards Persephone before falling to the ground, re-damaging my already hurt muscles and tissue. I heard a squeal and barely had a chance to look back and see Hades, in his full God form, calling the warriors of the dead to restrain her.

His whole person glowed with a shadowed aura, his power so thick you could breathe it in the air surrounding. The room was dark, while all of my nerves screamed fear. This was the form no one else would see, this was what he really was when it came down to it, God of Death. He fed on people's fear and wasn't afraid of torture.

There were hundreds of ghosts surrounding us now, each one dressed in ancient battle armour and weapons at the ready. Their faces were stoic and rigid, all of them at perfect attention.

"Get her out of here!" he bellowed, the whole area vibrating like an earthquake.

"See to it that she may NEVER return here!" he ordered. They all swarmed over her in a blur, shoving their spears towards her and shrieking random battles cries. I glanced at Hades during the commotion and felt the wind rush out of me. There was a massive aura surrounding him that took the shape of the Grimreaper. His right hand held the destructive scythe only ever mentioned in the legends, no on believing such a powerful weapon could be in existence. Within seconds, Persephone's screams died away amongst the palace, and it was quiet as it had been before.

Too much had just happened in such a short amount of time for my brain to process it all. Total system shutdown and information disarray. You know those movie scenes you watch on freeway accidents? Everyone's doing somewhere between 60-70mph and suddenly one car is launched sideways into another, and all chaos tears apart as everything ends up in a huge jam of twisted metal and gargled noises, smoke and fire spewing out of random cars magically; my brain was a replica of that scene. I couldn't focus on a coherent thought, my eyes felt like they were merely staring into darkness.

I could feel myself looking around the tangle of miniature chaos inside myself. Each way I felt myself turning and looking there was a different side of me that was struggling to comprehension and a wish to be helped. The same want of love and caring from people around me; friends and family in once direction, the hopelessness of having almost no purpose anymore in another. Some twining roads led to the abandonment of my parents, wishing they could have been there for me more often throughout my lifetime. Many of the side paths led to memories of Seth, the gaping hole inside of my soul of not having him around anymore, how much he really meant to me.

But beyond everything else, away from the fake friends I once had and was betrayed by, much farther deep within my soul. Past the little disappointments I'd faced in academics, or the problems of abandonment by my parents, and even beyond the lies I'd surround myself with to never reveal what I honestly felt about something, how much I hurt, and how much I needed help, there was something else.

The very center of my core, the innermost part of my soul, I could see the same frightened little girl that always existed in me. She was curled into a ball, no one else around, and sitting on the bank of a little river. I stepped towards her, and walked up enough to sit down beside her. She was holding a beautiful shell, colored in an ocean blue and black mix. Her little hands were holding onto the precious item as though her survival depended on it.

"That's a very pretty shell you have," I said quietly, trying to talk to this part of me. Trying to see what I needed in myself, what this girl was representing.

She nodded and continued fondling its soft texture in her palms.

"Where did you find it?" I asked again, hoping for a response.

"It washed up on this river bank while I was sitting here a couple days ago, I come here all the time, but finding such a pretty shell is so rare!" She said with a smile and looked at me. I looked back at the scenery around us and felt a small shred of remembrance towards the area.

"I camped here when I was younger once," I murmured to myself, but the little girl paid no notice and continued to talk.

"My family came here for a vacation together, they said it's something lots of other families do together and it'll make lots of happy memories," her voice sounded slightly laced with disappointment.

She clutched the shell tightly to her now.

"But they don't mean me when they say family. They mean they wanna' go to the lake and show off Seth's swimming skills, they wanna parade my amazing brother to everyone. So, when they started doing things with other campers, ones who didn't happen to have kids my age, I wandered around for my own secret space to have my own adventures in!" her voice was sad as she talked about her parents, then picked up slightly when she talked of her "adventures".

My heart pounded in my ears as I listened to her, remembering the trip as though it were yesterday.

"I started coming here and playing by the river. I read in a book once that there are beautiful water nymphs that live in rivers! Wouldn't it be lovely to see one sometime?" the little girl went on with her tale.

"When I came her a few days ago, I was playing in the water when a boy about my age was standing across the bank, he was holding the shell in his hands. He had pretty black hair," the girl smiled at me,

"and he was really funny! He asked me what I was doing here and when I told him he gave me the shell. He said, 'well, whenever you feel left out of your family, hold this shell really tight and wish with all your heart to be loved by someone.' He told me it was a magical shell!" the girl got up suddenly as if someone had called her name.

The scenery faded and I saw myself standing in empty blackness with the same shell in my hands again, it's familiar smooth texture again in my fingers. Looking down on its pearly sheen I could see my stark eyes easily reflected back, a couple tears trailing down them.

I wanted to be loved unconditionally by someone. My parents had loved Seth more than anything, I never had close friends. Whenever I had needed something in my life, I would wait until everyone was asleep in the rest of the house and go and take my precious treasure from its hiding spot and sit with it in the moonlight. As I got older, I could recall a few memories of sitting on that window sill for hours wishing on that shell. Each time I would hold the shell and wish, there was a warm comforting feeling that would come to me, something I imagined love would feel like. By the time I was old enough to understand Seth loved me absolutely, I put the shell away more, and relied on only him.

The small child of my soul was crying for love, a love I'd never felt, and desired. I opened my eyes to gaze at the shell and my vision changed as the shell was rising from my hands. Startled I began grasping for it again, I didn't want to lose my only source of feeling love again, there was too much chaos to find love right now, I needed the shell! I jumped and tried to grasp for it, but the image was becoming more blurry and the darkness was giving way to a pale light. But for the last instant, before it disappeared, there was an image of Hades' face in place where the shell had been.


	15. Chapter 15

**Yes, yes, the long awaited past of how he first found out about her has been discovered. And to clarify a little more that I didn't mention, he learned about the family from Seth's fame and the family's wealth since they all have bizarre eyes. I do have a photo of her eyes finally! :3 I hope it makes more sense than my description of finding Frodo's eyes when he's poisoned xD!**

**Oh, yes! The long awaited smut is now in this chapter! If you don't like it, please don't read, You won't miss any of the plot, guaranteed. **

**Note: I borrowed some phrases from other stories, books, and/or online sites for the smut section (DISCLAIMER TO THOSE PHRASES)**

**But let's be honest...we all use mostly the same words to describe a smut scene. **

**Mooooving on!~ (1 chapter left!)**

**Chapter 15**

I could feel the cold tile at my back, and vaguely felt my head being held up. My head ached as it had before, tortured by physical pain and old memories being brought back. I blinked a few times, and tried to sit up. Hades was hovered above me, his eyes concerned and his face worried.

"What happened?" I asked as I made a move as though to stand and Hades stopped me.

"Just rest for a moment Aislinn, you've been through quite a bit in the last few minutes. Just give yourself some time," his voice was soft, like it had been just before Persephone had burst in. The ache of my body was starting to come back, I groaned as I tried to stand up again, ignoring him.

Despite his protests, I insisted on dining alone and sleeping for a while without his "watchful eye." Greda brought the food in with a smile, probably at Persephone's banishment and the idea of never having to wait on her hand and foot ever again.

"Just eat and rest up Miss Aislinn," she smiled at me, "I know the past week's been pretty busy and treacherous, although it did have its perks," she winked at me knowingly. I politely smiled back and finished eating just minutes after she'd left.

The soft sheets felt wonderful against my skin, my old bed was mine once again, and my room was back the way I wanted it. Without guests coming to visit now this was to be my permanent accommodations.

I laid my head down to sleep, and was instantly plagued by the nightmares of my dreams. The same vision of the little girl with the seashell and the absolute yearning to be loved again. Each time I woke up from the recurring nightmare there was almost a gaping hole in my person suddenly, and it hurt bitterly with the want to be fixed.

When it was somewhere between two and three am I had already woken up for the sixth time, the yearning so strong now I was almost in tears as my soul and heart begged to be love; the information of Hades' words from earlier forgotten the reoccurring vision of the girl.

My legs rose suddenly, not as sore as they had been only hours earlier, and I found myself walking towards the door. Opening it, there was no one about in the hallways. Nighttime was very similar to the Above world, everyone was either asleep or off on their own. Barefooted on the ice-cold floor I wrapped my arms around myself and found my feet had led me to outside Hades' doorway.

I opened the door a crack, peaking in. There was a fire in the mantle, and the curtains rustled in the imaginary wind that seemed to flow through the Underworld. Hades didn't stir from his bed, and when I was certain he hadn't heard me I walked into the room cautiously. Making my way over to his bedside, I watched him as his even breaths stirred only the material of the pillow in front of his face. All his features were relaxed, and even his hair and slowed to a snail's pace of movement.

Rising again I noticed something on the ledge of his window just as the wind blew the curtain open. My breath caught in my throat as I move towards the object quietly and lifted its soft, smooth shape into my hands. Tears gathered up on my face as I gazed down at the precious object. I clasped it tightly to my chest, straining to pour all my want of love into the little shell. The memories pieced themselves together in my head as I held the shell.

Hades had been the boy by the river, that was when he had first found me and found out about "my eyes," or so I would assume. He was the one who had given me the shell and told me of its magical powers, and wanted me to know that I would always be loved. He may have seemed like a prick before, but in the end, he was trying to do what he thought was best for me, excluding the taking over of Olympus of course.

I remembered Hades' words then. I understood now, and knew what he had told me.

He had said he loved me.

That was why he wanted to save me. He didn't want me to suffer alone without the love of anyone, and without my brother. He wanted to protect me from the other Olympians, he didn't want Persephone to, my guess, lay a single appendage on me.

"Aislinn," his voice called behind me, softly. I turned to face him, smiling slightly, and still clutching the small shell to me. He walked over, wearing just a pair of white shorts and a long black whifty robe, and when he stood in front of me, gingerly took the shell from my hands and wrapped his arms around me tightly.

He held me comfortingly, safely, lovingly, and every other feeling I'd only ever experienced with my brother. I hugged him back, knowing now he really did love me. He lifted me into his arms easily, letting me cry into his shoulder as he gently rocked me back and forth.

I could hear his heartbeat as he held me. I opened my tearful eyes only to see his pulse beating on his neck. He was hardly rocking me at all now hearing my tears stop falling. I shifted and leaned forwards only a tiny bit before kissing the spot softly. He stilled, but didn't tell me to stop.

In fact, quite the opposite, Hades stretched his neck out more as I continued to suckle on his soft skin. I licked over his neck, kissing and biting alternately and earning soft little moans that fell out of Hades' mouth. His moans were the sweetest sounds to have ever reached my ears, fitting for a God. But no, it wasn't just because he's a God. It was because of how much I really loved him.

I continued kissing up his jawline and slowly made my way over to his lips. I hesitated for a moment, brushing my fingers across his smooth lips. Too impatient with my speed, he tenderly gripped my chin, forcing me too look up into his deep black eyes. I held my breath as he leaned in to kiss me, soft and easy at first.

But that quickly changed and Hades pulled me so I was straddling his lap instead, letting my arms rest around his neck as he kissed me more heatedly. His lips were warm against mine, and even warmer when I felt his tongue licking along my lips, asking for entrance-something I hadn't really expected from him.

I happily let him have it and opened my mouth wider to accommodate his exploring tongue, as I set to the same. Tracing over his teeth carefully, licking at the sides of his hot cheek, then teasing his tongue into a duel. I wrapped my hand in his hair pulling tightly so I could reach into the kiss more. I smirked when I heard him moan against my lips again as I gently sucked on his tongue, then his bottom lip before pulling away and blowing on it slightly.

His shiver could escape no one's eyes. He quickly rolled over so I was under him now. Before I could blink the robe I had been wearing disappeared into thin air, I shivered from the sudden chill but he merely smirked at my reaction, his dark eyes amused.

Those wicked lips brushed across my collarbone, chasing his own fingers. My breath shuddered out of me, followed by a deep moan as fingertips swept down over the swell of my breasts, chased by what I could only guess to be his tongue as I laid with my eyes closed, surrounded by bliss. One hand cupped and fondled me, even as his lips settled down on the peak to tease and thrill me. The other began echoing the same motions at my other nipple, tugging in time with his skilled mouth. I cried out weakly, clinging to him in desperation. "Hades..." I begged softly, pressing myself against him.

His mouth moved to my other breast and that hand swept down, playing over my stomach, down as far as my navel. I felt a finger begin slipping in and out of my belly button and my mouth ran dry.

"Oh god..." I whispered.

I felt his lips curve into a smile against me and his hands slipped over to the cleft of my thighs, slipping between them, lightly playing against me, the fabric the only barrier between his flesh and her own. I twisted my legs around his own, crying out to him as he caressed me with his hands and mouth. I felt like I was on fire – he was burning me.

My hands gripped his head, pulling him up so I could meet his mouth with my own. I demanded entry into his mouth, and suddenly, his hands tore the garment open fully, and his bare chest came down to rest upon mine. One hand plunged between my legs, his fingers sliding over my slick folds. The feeling of his hands upon me _there_ nearly sent me over the edge. His lips slid with deliberate skill over mine, setting the pace even as I tried to encourage him to go faster.

A sob choked me when I felt a finger slid wetly inside me and I arched my body against him, crying out in desperation, even as his tongue entered my mouth. I heard his feral growl and his lips began sweeping a burning trail across my cheek, along my jaw and over my chin. When they met with my pulse and his tongue darted out to caress it, I whimpered in need.

"Hades, please..."

Another finger slid against my opening before the first drew back and both entered. I threw my head back, clinging to the man. I set my nails into the back of his neck and heard him chuckle faintly in amusement before his teeth lightly bit the side of my neck. The feeling of his teeth on my skin caught me by surprise and intense pleasure flooded over me.

I leaned up more now, deciding I wanted some control, and flipping him down against his bed. I pulled away from the kiss, but not without much will power and force, Hades' lips were fairly strong on their own let alone his arms.

My mouth practically drooled as I looked down at the gorgeous sight laid out before me. The God of the Underworld beneath me, panting after a kiss, and he was mine.

I ran my hands down his perfectly chiseled chest, dragging my nails down his skin as well. He shuddered and moaned his pleasure. I kissed everywhere my lips and tongue could reach, over his stomach and abs, back up to his neck, then down again.

That evil smirk came back across my lips as I saw how erect his nipples were already. I glanced at his face, now flushed, and he gave me a curious look.

Leaning down I licked at one of them caressingly then sucked on it full force while rolling the other between my fingers, then flicking it with my nails. His moans poured out then, as though they were overflowing inside of him. I kissed and sucked on them, listening to him rasp out words in several languages, some I recognized, some I didn't.

"Aislinn," his voice was hoarse as his hand tightened in my roots. I stopped finally and came back to his lips, kissing with a ferocity I never knew I had. I kissed my way down to his belly button, sliding his shorts down, my fingers briefly pulling at smooth flesh before I pressed a soft kiss to his hip, which ripped a feral snarl from his lips.

"This loud over a human?" I teased as I licked back around his ear, whispering hotly.

He growled again.

"Aislinn, you're playing with fire..." He rasped, even as he let me push his pants off. I ignored him, kissing the inside of his thigh. I ran my fingers lightly over him before wrapping my hand around him fully. He cried out in surprise and I felt his hand grip my wrist. "Aislinn-"

I leaned forward, pressing a soft kiss against the head. A vicious-sounding word left his lips and I sighed in contentment. I hesitated for another moment before I put my mouth on him, sucking softly as I pulled back.

A sharp cry came from the man beneath me and I felt his hands grip my shoulders. "Aislinn..." Hades moaned, his voice sounding raw. "If you continue this-"

I closed my teeth down around him, and another cry left him. I brought my free hand up, caressing the sack between his legs and the one I'd rested upon his hip found his own hand and I gave it a tender squeeze. But I didn't stop.

In scarcely a minute, the man let out a moan, which turned to a cry that ended with considerable volume and he spilled his seed in my mouth. I gagged softly, but swallowed it so it would fall upon his sheets.

"You minx," he growled, his voice husky.

Full of bizarre acrobatic talent, Hades had flipped us before my heart could beat. My eyes widened in surprise as he pinned my hands above my head, and ground against my hips once.

I bit back a moan at how wonderful the sensation felt, hoping to keep a sense of reason inside my fuzzy brain. He kissed down my neck, nipping and biting where he pleased, and left small little marks over my skin.

"You're going to pay for that," he hissed in my ear, following it with a lick all around, sending shudders racing down my spine.

Suddenly, his hands were on my hips and he was kissing my belly button. I wasn't certain when my robe had been discarded. I gasped, blushing darkly as he held me firmly against the mattress.

I quivered as his hands slid over my legs, pulling them over his shoulders. "Hades?" she asked nervously.

I didn't have an opportunity to speak again, as his lips met with the cleft of my thighs, one hand spreading my lips as his other sought my entrance, two fingers sliding inside of me. I dug my head back into the mattress, my throat closing. Weakly, I cried out, my own hands spearing into his hair, simultaneously pushing him away and pulling him closer. My head tossed back and forth as his tongue stroked my outside and his fingers stroked within. I was rapidly losing coherency and blamed the man who was causing the intense pleasure coursing throughout my veins.

Those fingers inside me began to curl against the top wall and the pleasure sharpened, focused, heightened. I arched into his mouth and hand, his name on my lips as I came apart and completely undone.

A few minutes later, he could feel my muscles relax and he moved over to lay beside me.

"I love you Hades," I whispered softly, still trying to catch my breath.

"I love you too Aislinn, now and forever," he answered brushing a stray piece of hair back out of my face and he pulled me into his arms.

Moments later, my soft breathing let him know I had fallen asleep inside his grasp.


	16. Chapter 16

**Last chapter everyone! 3 Please please please review and tell me how much you liked it! **

**Thank you all so much!**

**-Soah**

**Chapter 16:**

A few more days had passed, the nightmares had stopped, and Hades had been training my eyes some more since we could do so without further interruptions, and even more things without interruption I had learned. He would take me down to the sorting room to practice on the newly dead souls that were being delivered to their eternal resting place.

"Even the souls of the dead," he explained once, "still carry their emotions within them. With your eyes, you can see the final thoughts and emotions they experienced right before their death."

I looked at him, slightly baffled.

"But how can that transfer to human emotional reading?" I asked.

"The dead are just as difficult to read as the living. Your skills will transfer without any notice to you."

I stood by his side, now, as he helped sort out the more and more occurring hitches in the sorting room. Hades was never more than thirty feet away at any time other than when I slept, and I suspected, he still had guards watching over me even then. With good reason though, plenty of not-so-great outcomes had occurred recently and those alone would give good reason to anyone to be concerned.

I walked over to the edge of the platform we were standing on and focused on the soul who was currently being determined. It was a man, about 40 years of age, who had died while choking on a piece of celery. I held my gaze upon him, focusing at trying to look at the very core of this soul, beyond the dark holes of eyes and deeper than the translucence of its form. Hades had told me you couldn't look past the soul, you had to focus on what was inside of it.

My chest rose and fell as I began clearing my mind of all other thoughts, focusing only on the center, the life force behind this person's survival.

Relax…relax…relax, I told myself with each breath I took.

Suddenly, my mind was flooded with images and emotions. There was happy and joy, flashes of people that when seen brought up warm, yearning feelings. He was celebrating with others, people that this man had loved. But there was a mix of emotions suddenly, guilt raced over my skin as he looked at one of the most beautiful ladies in the memory, before changing and turning to love and concern. More memories rushed through his mind; a wedding with the pretty lady, the birth of his kids, he teaching a little boy how to ride a bike, images of them fishing together, and he holding his son when he fell or when he there was a surge of pride. More pieces of family rushed through him, and I could feel my fingertips tingle with happiness. He had had a good life, full of love for his family and wanting to care for them.

He had been happy in his last moments, right up until the surge of panic and fear that spread throughout each of my muscles as he choked. My hand instinctively flew to my own throat, feeling the fear of the man and seeing the flashes of his loved ones fretting to find a way to help him as he struggled nearer to his death. I took a deep breath to steady myself and looked farther, beyond the blankness of death he had suffered, tracing his feelings back to what he was now.

I could feel peace within him, and sadness. An image of a boy raced through his mind as the sadness continued. Some memories happy, some overwhelming joy, and, as I looked deep into his now black eyes, he turned towards me with a sad smile. There was deep regret now, deeper than what I had ever felt.

I shuddered and stepped backwards dizzily, blinking away the connection of the soul. Grabbing onto the ledge for support I watched in horror as he was sentenced to the green room. He gave me one last glimpse of a smile before leaving to his fate. Surprised at what was happening I grabbed at Hades' arm.

"Why is he being sent down there?" I followed the ledge as I watched him glide away along the River's path.

"What could he have done! He loved his family, and his son! He doesn't deserve to be sent to suffering!" I yelled, just about to perch on the ledge and jump off to get him myself.

"Aislinn," Hades was suddenly next to me, his arm around me to prevent me from climbing in, but I struggled against him. I shrieked and tried to flail out of his grasp just as I watched the man enter the room forever. There were tears threatening to overflow as I tried to get away.

"What did he do that was so wrong?" I asked quietly, my head hanging. Hades was very reluctant to answer me.

"He killed his family a long time ago," he suffered from a deranged syndrome and it ate away at him until he no longer had emotions. When it came to that, he simply killed them off, no needing them anymore," he explained.

"So everyone I saw in those images was dead?"

Hades nodded.

"There are other things in life I wanted to protect you from Aislinn, not only your abandonment," he said softly, and took my hand to lead me to where Charon was docked. I brushed the man I'd seen away and focused on a different soul nearby, feeling an incomparable feeling of wanting to make others happy. This girl before me made me smile, she was very pretty, even aged. But her heart was pure; I could sense that without being told by Hades, I looked up at him briefly for confirmation. He nodded with a smile and I continued to look through her memories.

Frantically I flew backwards against the other side of the boat as she rose up, looking as though she wanted to speak. My heart was pounding as she looked towards me, reaching, and Hades was doing nothing.

"Try and speak to her, look into her soul, see the emotions she wants to convey," he encouraged, giving me a gentle squeeze on the shoulder. There was something else in his voice as he told me to do so, there was a hint of…admiration for this particular soul.

Taking a steadying breath I looked deeper into her, not so far as to see her past, but exercised more control to see only the present.

She was a ghostly image inside of my head, surrounded by darkness.

"Hello Aislinn," she said softly. My emotions were at ease, something I had a feeling she was projecting towards me.

"How do you know my name?" I asked curiously.

"I know many things Aislinn, especially about you. I know your deepest secrets and your darkest desires," her presence around me was wiser and superior, but with humbleness and gentleness; it felt as though I were in the presence of a God.

"I know that you love Hades, Aislinn," she said, reaching forward to caress the side of my face. Her touch felt like the softest feathers brushing against me. I gulped as she continued to speak.

"I know that you want nothing more than to remain here with him forever, to always be at his side. But we both know the problem with that wish don't we?" she said softly. My head fell sadly.

"I can't outlive a God," I murmured, "I can't stop aging."

The glowing lady's eyes gazed upon me sympathetically.

"I, too, was in love with a God once Aislinn. I wanted the same future that you do, to never have to leave his side," her voice was said and distant, and the images of her memories filled my sight. She and him laughing together, their love tightly defined to each other only. There were feelings of music, warmth, nature, and excitement. But above all, there was an insurmountable feeling of hope emanating from them both. Like the sun always rising in the morning.

She stopped sharing her memories and I exhaled all the air I'd been holding in.

"I don't want you to give up your chance at happiness Aislinn, you deserve to live with Hades forever, Goddess of the Underworld," her image was beginning to fade away.

I struggled to reach out for her.

"Wait! Don't leave me yet!" I begged, futilely grasping at her dissolving image.

"There is a way Aislinn, there is a way to become a God," she whispered.

She was gone.

My heart pounded in my ears as the connection was severed. I looked around, blinking at my surroundings before realizing I was still in the boat with Hades headed back to the main docks.

"Did she speak?" Hades asked when he saw I was back to reality. I nodded mutely, trying to gather my thoughts.

"Who was she?" I asked.

"Her name was Ciel, she was in love with Apollo," he said solemnly, as though lost in his own memories.

"What happened to her?" I had to know. I needed to know.

"She decided to go through with the challenges for immortality, so that she could remain by him forever," I looked up at him, urging him to continue on.

"When she completed her tasks, they were commencing the ceremony for her immortality. But Zeus, who had objected to their union from the beginning, sent a lightning bolt to strike down Apollo, who had disgraced him so thoroughly before, he wasn't against trying to kill him," he took a breath and gave me a hand out of the swaying boat and onto the rocks before continuing his way up the steps and on with the story.

"During the ceremony, just as Ciel was receiving her gift, the lightning bolt came whizzing into the area with such speed, no one could see it. No one, except Ciel that is. She jumped instantly in front of the bolt without any hesitation. How she did it, no one's certain. But she took the shot that should have wounded Apollo. She didn't stop to think that he was immortal and he could take it, she only felt the need to protect him from any sort of harm, the same as he had done for her at one time. Same as I do for you," he added on the end.

"But wasn't she immortal then?" I asked curiously.

Hades shook his head and pulled me up into his lap, cradling me in his arms. He'd become extremely affectionate after admitting his love to me, and after I'd told him I felt the same. I brushed one of the soft strands of hair, now glowing electric blue, that was flowing with magic.

"She was going to be, and if she hadn't left the circle of the ceremony to protect Apollo, she would have been. But it wasn't finished when she had stepped out, and it took her life instantly."

I looked into his eyes sadly.

"And she was just sent to the Underworld? No one brought her back or anything?"

He shook his head again.

"As much as we're able to do, bringing back those from the dead is not in our talents. However, she was blessed with a gift in her afterlife," he explained.

"That was the twist of her death," Hades said.

"She was given the ability to come and go anywhere she pleased in the world, including Olympus, but only as a spirit. Never a person. And she, was bestowed the power to revive others from death," he measured the surprise in Aislinn's eyes as he said this.

"Even though she wasn't made into a Goddess during her lifetime, one could call her the Goddess of Restoration. She has the power to bring back life into those that are dead, but she only has for those she feels are worthy to continue living."

I watched as a tray of food was brought before us, and eagerly hopped off to feed my rumbling stomach.

"Has she ever brought anyone back Hades?" I asked, reaching for a butter roll.

"Yes," he replied popping a grape into his mouth and swallowing before speaking again. "She has, but it's never a frequent occurrence. Very rarely does she grant a second chance at their own life."

I nodded in understanding and we talked about different things in the Underworld he had yet to show me. There were far more places than I realized there were before. There was an actual abandoned amusement park, Charon had access to, that served as a park for the dead. He showed me the weapons room, the treasure room (apparently all Gods had one), and finally, his personal library.

I felt my jaw drop to the floor in amazement as I stared at the book shelves surrounding me.

"There must be thousands of books in here," I almost whispered. To have a library of this size, and always have access to it? I don't believe anyone could ever drag me away from such an incredible place.

"I could read here forever," I said as I immediately began reaching for the closest book to me. Then another, and another. Soon I had books piled in my arms and laid out all around the large chair near a hearth.

"Can I stay here and read for a while?" I asked with a smile. He gave me an approving nod and explained he would go make his usual rounds through the area and be back to take me to dinner. It was settled and I watched him shut the door before returning to the books I'd grabbed; none of which I was really looking for.

Certainly, I could spend forever reading here and it would fill me with no end of pleasure. But there was something in particular I was looking for at this moment, and I wanted to find it before Hades returned and questioned me about it.

I brushed my hand along the dusty bookshelves as I read through the titles, which didn't seem to have any logical order whatsoever. I sighed, and began scanning every title I could see with hopes that something related to the subject I was interested in would jump out at me.

It did.

I hadn't even reached the third shelf down when a book titled "The Laws of Immortality," landed in my sight.

"Perfect." I said to myself, lugging the rather thick and oddly heavy for its size book back to the comfy chair to start reading.

I was going to learn what it would take to become immortal.

About two hours later I had read and mentally noted everything I needed to know about the rules and laws. From now, it was convincing Hades that I needed to see Zeus that was going to be the challenge.

He came in with a smile and, wrapping his warm hand around mine, we made our way slowly back to the throne room where food would be.

"Hades," I said quietly as we had almost reached the room.

"Yes Aislinn?"

My heart was pounding against my chest almost immediately. The thought of bringing up Zeus to him was surely going to put a damper on the evening, but some things were more important than romantic evenings out with each other.

He stopped walking when I turned away in nervousness.

"What is it Aislinn, you can always ask me anything," he said reassuringly, I still didn't think he was prepared for what I was going to ask of him anyway.

"Can you take me to Olympus? Immediately?" I blurted out in a rush, thinking in some twisted logic that if I said it quick enough, then the consequences would be less than before.

He stayed very still, but I could tell he was merely restraining the will to break a hole through the palace.

"Why." He demanded quietly, he's anger practically forming the word as it came out of his mouth.

I gulped, trying to resist from shaking.

"I need to speak with Zeus."

His eyes grew wide, as though full of panic, but there wasn't time for words.

As soon as I said I needed to speak with Zeus there was a bright flash of blinding light, and when I opened my eyes again, Hades' arm was around me tightly, and we were standing before the mighty God of Thunder.

He smirked at seeing me before him, and gave a…growl? When he saw Hades' arm.

"What is it you need from me little Aislinn?" he asked mockingly, his hand always looking tensed enough that he would lunge for my eyes the instant he had the chance.

I took a deep breath and forced myself to stand before him, away from Hades and away from my own insecurities.

This is it, I told myself bravely, and tightened my fist for good luck.

Zeus gave me a quizzical look at the defiant stance I'd made against him. I looked at him carefully, measuring each movement he made and logging it away with other information.

He wasn't scary now. In fact, as I breathed, he didn't intimidate me at all.

Now it was my turn to smirk and I flashed him my best face ever.

I challenged him.

He grit his teeth at me and hissed in a lower voice, everyone else in the room quiet from the first instant Hades and I had been teleported to Olympus.

"What is it you want Aislinn?" he asked again.

I looked him dead in the eyes and said with all my conviction,

"I want to take the Immortality Challenge."

The whole room was silent as death.

**Dun dun duuuuunnnnnnnn~~~!**

**Who wants to guess the surprise? YES! I'm writing a sequel, starting posting sometime this late summer! WE all get to see Aislinn take the challenges! 3**

**Please...I'm begging you...review...ALSO I need ideas for the challenges so if you have one that you'd like to see in the next story let me know! **

**Final question before you all leave to REVIEW ;) Does the story of Ciel and Apollo appeal to anyone? Would anyone like to see me write that one? Sadly you know the ending, BUT none of you know the story! **

**Anyways, thank you ALL for sticking with me through this great masterpiece of mine! And for those of you who read my Labyrinth one I'm sooooooo sorry for not updating lately! . I wanted to focus on this one finished first. So it will be updated very soon, I promise! **

**Thanks again everyone! 33333 **

**(Have you reviewed yet? (; )**


	17. Author's Note PLEASE READ

Author's Note:

Hey everyone,

I wanted to let you all know how grateful I am to all of you that reviewed my story! :')

It really means a lot to me! Now, I only have one final thing to say before i leave this beloved story to future readers without editing.

I've had a lot of people request that I send them messages when I start publishing the sequel.

Please understand, I'm thrilled that all of you are looking forward to reading the next segment, but I've had far too many people request for me to PM them when I start publishing. I'm not trying to be mean, but with the number of people that requested I really don't feel it's my responsibility to inform you about it.

:) I can promise you the first chapter will be up before Aug. 13th (the day I leave for college) and I'm not sure how regularly I'll be posting until I really get adjusted to the college life~

x3 I love you guys so much! And as an EXTREMELY EARLY Christmas present, I will write Ciel's story for you guys too! :D

I'm still looking for more challenges for Aislinn for the next story, Thank you to Insanity is my second name for the great idea! 3

Okay okay, XD I'll leave you all alone to anticipate the next stories coming out!

If you like Labyrinth btw, you should definitely check out my other big story! 3

Thanks again all you lovely readers! What would I do without you? ;_;


End file.
